Aimee
Aimee by Mary Beth Miller
Nominated for the National Book Award, 2002
An ALA Best Book For Young Adults, 2002
A Barnes & Noble Best of 2002: Teen Category
An IRA Notable Book: Children's 2002
A New York Public Library's Best Book for the Teenaged, 2002
A Colorado Blue Spruce Book, 2002
A Rhode Island Teen Book Award Finalist, 2002
A Pennsylvania School Librarians Association Young Adults Top 40, 2002
An Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award (Rosie), 2005 - 2006
Jacket Copy
It’s hard to act normal when you’re accused of murder and no one believes that you didn’t do it. Not my parents. Oh God, no. That would be a social gaffe — to support your daughter when she’s on trial for murder. Not my friends. They didn’t even come to the trial, except when they had to testify. They didn’t stand up for me or meet my eyes once during the whole thing.
The closest anyone came to really looking at me was when Chard had to point at me, but he didn’t meet my eyes. Not even when he left the stand.
So I stood alone. I stood without Aimee, because she couldn’t stand with me.
What did I get out of supposedly helping her? Loneliness. I am cut off from my best friend forever. She also took away all of my other friends and even my family. She even tried, during that last night, to take Chard from me.
I didn’t think it could happen.
Friends don’t commit suicide. The don’t die.
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Dutton Books, 2002 ISBN 0-14-240025
On the Head Of A Pin
On The Head Of A Pin by Mary Beth Miller
Booklist, Starred Review: "What begins as a story about an accident . . . develops into a carefully crafted, complex character study of young men reacting to the horrifying events of a single evening. . . . Miller . . . has written . . . a through-provoking and disturbingly real scenario."
Publisher's Weekly: "Miller's riveting novel could come right out of newspaper headlines . . . [T]he author delves deep into the psyches of . . . two sensitive and vulnerable boys."
School Library Journal: "[A] gripping and suspenseful story . . . [Miller's] beautifully rendered narrators . . . compel the reader on to the last page."
Kliatt: "This is a book that asks big questions . . . All of these questions turn on the head of a pin. One message is implicit: young people need adults in their lives."
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books: "[An} intricate story . . . laced with themes of religion and suffering, adding depth to an already complex tale. . . . [A] riveting psychological thriller . . . readers will undoubtedly find themselves swept up in . . . this page turner."
Teen Book Diva: "Dark and haunting."
Jacket Copy
Helen, reluctant homecoming queen, looks forward to going away to college, even if it means she has to be temporarily parted from Michael, the one person who truly understands her. He’s told her that he will wait through centuries for her. Joshua is tormented by his role in his sister Angela’s accident. He feels trapped by the pledge he made to God and by his lifelong friendship with Andy, who has taken to hanging out with the dagerously cold Victor Munger. Michael hates the fact that he and Helen have to sneak out to parties in order to be together, because her parents are suspicious of his family and his artistic leanings. Andy is just fooling around with his dad’s hunting rifle — messing with Josh’s head — when it accidentally goes off. It is a moment that will change all of their lives forever.
Buy a copy
On the Head of a Pin is out of print, but I have copies available for sale. See Autographed Books.
Dutton Books, 2006 ISBN 0-525-47736-5
Autographed Books
If you'd like to buy an autographed copy of either of my novels, Contact Me and I will send you an invoice through Paypal. Be sure to let me know who you'd like the book dedicated to as well.
Aimee (paperback): $5.00
On The Head Of A Pin (hardcover): $10.00