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Simon says. . . be like the other kids - what's wrong with you?
Simon says. . . don't embarrass me in public.
Simon says. . . paint photo-quality still lifes, not what you see in your imagination.
Simon says. . . don't admit the truth, even to yourself.
Sixteen-year-old Charles Weston longs to avoid playing the game of Simon Says. A gifted artist, he knows he must find a way to live his life on his own terms or risk losing his identity. As he attempts to resist the demands of his parents, teachers, and classmates, Charles closes himself off from others-seeking truth but finding himself shunned and bitterly alone.
Charles believes there is one person who can show him how to escape the game. One person who sees the game clearly and rises above it. And Charles will do what he must to meet that person and get the answer he seeks. But in his effort to find a way to be true to himself, Charles becomes caught in a tragic game of Simon Says that will ultimately leave one student dead.
Simon Says was published by Harcourt. Click here to read advance praise of the novel from Michael Cart, Booklist columnist and YALSA Past President.I originally wrote Simon Says when I was in college. It was inspired in good measure by my experiences getting my friends and family to accept me as a writer. The manuscript certainly
benefitted from the feedback and suggestions it got from my roommate and my other close friends, but it took me 25 years to learn enough about writing to do the original story justice - and to find the right editor who would be able to bring Charles and his classmates to life on the page.
Sometimes writers can get impatient for someone to publish their work immediately, and I have to admit that I started sending the original version of Simon Says out to editors while I was still in college! But if anyone had published it then, the book would have been the weaker for it, because it wasn't nearly as well-written as it has become after both years of revision and years spent honing my craft.
Simon Says has been chosen as a selection by Chinaberry, featuring books and treasures to put a song in young readers' hearts. Please click here to visit their website at www.Chinaberry.com. Autographed copies of Simon Says will be available as long as supplies last.
A 2003 ALA nominee for Best Books for Young Adults An Accelerated Reader Title
Click here to read an excerpt from Simon Says. Click here to read reviews of Simon Says.