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  • Published: 19 October 2021
  • ISBN: 9780593306673
  • Imprint: RHUS Children's Books
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $40.00

Dead Wednesday





Fans of Stargirl and Maniac Magee rejoice! Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli delivers a brilliant new novel about being bold, and taking charge of your life.

Can playing dead bring you back to life? Maybe on Dead Wednesday… On this day the worlds of a shy boy and a gone girl collide, and the connection they make will change them both forever. A brilliant new novel from the Newbery Medal winner and author of the New York Times bestseller Stargirl.
 
"Jerry Spinelli has created another middle grade masterpiece." —BookPage, starred review
 
On Dead Wednesday, every eighth grader in Amber Springs is assigned the name and identity of a teenager who died a preventable death in the past year. The kids don black shirts and for the whole day everyone in town pretends they're invisible—as if they weren't even there. The adults think it will make them contemplate their mortality. The kids know it's a free pass to get away with anything.
 
Worm Tarnauer feels invisible every day. He's perfectly happy being the unnoticed sidekick of his friend Eddie. So he's not expecting Dead Wednesday to feel that different. But he didn't count on being assigned Becca Finch (17, car crash). And he certainly didn't count on Becca showing up to boss him around! Letting this girl into his head is about to change everything.
 
This is the story of the unexpected, heartbreaking, hilarious, truly epic day when Worm Tarnauer discovers his own life.

  • Published: 19 October 2021
  • ISBN: 9780593306673
  • Imprint: RHUS Children's Books
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $40.00

About the author

Jerry Spinelli

Jerry Spinelli is the author of many books for young readers, including Maniac Magee, winner of the Newbery Medal; Wringer, winner of a Newbery Honor Award, Stargirl, An ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults; Loser; Crash; and Knots in My Yo-yo String, his autobiography.

Also by Jerry Spinelli

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Praise for Dead Wednesday

Praise for The Warden's Daughter:
"Jerry Spinelli again proves why he's the king of storytellers." -- Shelf Awareness, starred
"Moving and memorable."-- Kirkus, starred
"Spinelli again shows his mastery."-- Publishers Weekly, starred

Praise for Stargirl:
"Spinelli has produced a poetic allegorical tale about the magnificence and rarity of true nonconformity." --The New York Times

Praise for Milkweed:
"Jerry Spinelli has fashioned a novel of beauty out of the ugliness of the Holocaust. It is a superb book, one of the best you will read." -- BookPage

Praise for Crash:
"Spinelli packs a powerful moral wallop, leaving it to the pitch-perfect narration to drive home his point." --Publishers Weekly