A gorgeous read, so wonder-full of surprises.” — Tim Wynne-Jones, award-winning author of Blink & Caution
“A sad, funny, heartbreaking, and beautiful book.” — Margo Rabb, author of Kissing in America
“A refreshing and engrossing tale about an illicit romance, sure to be a page-turner for teens. The voices are authentic and witty — hats off to Dyer.” — Susan Nielsen, author of We Are All Made of Molecules
“Evocative and literary.” — Kirkus Reviews
“With unpredictable plot twists and an entertaining streak of sarcasm, Dyer explores the blurred lines between right and wrong and the risks and dangers of an all-encompassing love.” — ALA Booklist
“A deeply felt romance constructed with equal respect to both sides, this love story is bittersweet like a Joseph Monniger novel, and equally hard to forget.” — School Library Journal
“A lush, romantic tale of star-crossed lovers. Dyer depicts first passion and love with a precise, delicate hand. Robust in wisdom and sparkling word play, this is a thoroughly satisfying read.” — The Toronto Star
“Empathetic, comforting, and wise. A story about forbidden love. Poetic realism at its finest.” — The Globe and Mail
A refreshing and engrossing tale about an illicit romance, sure to be a page-turner for teens. The voices are authentic and witty — hats off to Dyer.
A gorgeous read, so wonder-full of surprises.
A sad, funny, heartbreaking, and beautiful book.
Empathetic, comforting, and wise. A story about forbidden love. Poetic realism at its finest.
With unpredictable plot twists and an entertaining streak of sarcasm, Dyer explores the blurred lines between right and wrong and the risks and dangers of an all-encompassing love.
A lush, romantic tale of star-crossed lovers. Dyer depicts first passion and love with a precise, delicate hand. Robust in wisdom and sparkling word play, this is a thoroughly satisfying read.
01/01/2018
Gr 9 Up—It's the beginning of George's senior year of high school and things are getting complicated. George's dad's health is in trouble; complications from diabetes have lead to his leg being amputated, and he isn't healing, physically or psychologically, like he should be. His inability to work adds financial stress on the family, which might change George's college plans. And to top it all off, George has a falling out with her best friend. But then she meets Francis and kisses him, and they start to fall in love. The problem is that Francis is 29 years old and the town's new constable. George is 17, and her dad used to be on the police force. The impropriety of George and Francis's relationship will both frustrate and exhilarate teens. The narrative unfolds as the two try to live normal lives while stealing time away for one another. When tragedy strikes, George must put the pieces of her life back together while grieving a broken heart in secret. Quiet and subdued, with gentle doses of humor, Francis and George's love story has emotional weight. The author explores the problematic love affair with nuance. VERDICT A deeply felt romance constructed with equal respect to both sides, this love story is bittersweet like a Joseph Monninger novel, and equally hard to forget.—Jennifer Miskec, Longwood University, Farmville, VA
2017-12-06
A girl whose eyes have always been on her future is forced to look at herself.It's the early 1990s in an apparently predominantly white small town—exactly where is not specified, but some readers will begin to realize it's probably in the Canadian Maritimes. Scorning her first name, Frances, George is the girl who will say anything—but not everything, as her best friend, Lisa, says. With her Mountie father on medical leave and changes percolating within her group of friends, George wants to get out of the valley and go to school in the city. But then she meets Francis, a guy who sparks feelings George isn't able to ignore. But Francis is a cop like her dad—and a dozen years older than George. Their romance can never be anything but a secret, and it makes George pull back from her friends and lie to everyone. When tragedy strikes, George realizes how lost she's let herself become and struggles to find a way to carry on. While the physical setting is meticulously described (and George's desire to leave it emphasized), its lack of specificity leaves readers unanchored, with the result that neither it nor the early-'90s historical period feels organic to the story. Narrating from the future, George and her hard, coldblooded nature take time to warm up to, and the meandering pace of the novel doesn't help. But the writing is evocative and literary, and readers who persist may find that's enough.Patient readers might find a minor reward. (Historical fiction. 16-18)
A refreshing and engrossing tale . . . sure to be a page-turner for teens.
With unpredictable plot twists and an entertaining streak of sarcasm, Dyer explores the blurred lines between right and wrong and the risks and dangers of an all-encompassing love.
Dyer goes for the jugular and in the end creates a heartbreaking novel dealing with secrets, loss and the mess that arises from not living truthfully.
Honest and real and breathing.
Dyer’s prose captures the adolescent tone effortlessly . . . Here So Far Away touches a dark place not often plumbed in YA literature, and we see the painful process of maturity for the difficult journey it can be.
Dyer depicts first passion and love with a precise, delicate hand; at the same time, her narrator George is irreverent, ironic and wonderfully earthy . . . Robust in wisdom and sparkling in word play, this is a thoroughly satisfying read.
Brave and funny and tender.
With unpredictable plot twists and an entertaining streak of sarcasm, Dyer explores the blurred lines between right and wrong and the risks and dangers of an all-encompassing love.
