* A Top Ten 2022 Texas Tayshas Reading List Pick *
* An OKLAHOMAN Bestseller *
* A Spring 2021 Indie Next Pick *
BOOK RIOT, “Winter 2021 YA Books for Your TBR”
BUZZFEED, "17 YA Books That Will Make You Shed a Tear Every Time"
GOODREADS, “Most Anticipated YA Titles of 2021”
CULTURESS, “21 YA Book Releases We Can’t Wait to Read in 2021”
GOODREADS, "30 New Reads for Very Bookish People"
PETOSKEY NEWS-REVIEW, "Our favorite Northern Michigan reads for this summer"
"Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher is a devastatingly beautiful examination of grief, hope, and friendship. A gorgeous debut, Schumacher does not hold back her punches emotionally but also takes care to make sure her readers get reprieve from the heaviness of the story, providing the comfort of a library where magical whales fly through the shelves. Amelia Unabridged is an honest and impactful glance into the complexity of tragedy and what follows." - THE YOUNG FOLKS, "Top 5 Debuts of 2020"
"Why Ted Lasso fans will love it: If you love Ted and Rebecca scenes, you'll love this." - BUZZFEED, "19 Books That Ted Lasso Fans Will Adore"
"Heart-wrenching in its raw emotion and sadness, Ashley Schumacher writes a story so captivating it will leave her readers breathless and gasping for air..." - DIXON INDEPENDENT VOICE
"Raw, heartfelt, and beautiful, Amelia Unabridged is a powerful read about grief, love, and finding your truths. Highly recommend for fans of If I Stay, Looking for Alaska, and Bridge to Terabithia." - YA BOOKS CENTRAL
"Do you enjoy a good cry immediately followed by hugging a book close to your chest and taking a deep breath? Then this book is for you!" - BUZZFEED
“Ultimately a story of self-discovery offered up with the sweetness of wish-fulfillment romance, it’s a novel sure to please anyone who wants a story of love and reading.” - BULLETIN FOR THE CENTER OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS
"Schumacher centers storytelling as a means of expression, connection, and keeping the dead alive in this emotionally immersive debut....Employing expressive prose that communicates the emotion and tumult that can accompany the death of a loved one at any age, Schumacher leaves characters—and readers—with a sense of hope." - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Schumacher’s lovely debut will have romantics swooning over blonde-haired, blue-eyed Amelia and black-haired Nolan’s love story. These two teens have endured loss and family trauma, but both have found acceptance and family elsewhere, and bring out the best in each other. The novel is also an ode to the love of reading and how books can provide the magic and comfort needed during difficult times. Recommended for all YA collections." - SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
"A beautiful, quirky, and magical story about broody authors, best friendships, and the imaginary worlds we call home. With lyrical prose and a romance that'll sweep you off your feet, Ashley Schumacher makes you believe in the impossibility of happily ever afters." - ASHLEY POSTON, New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics and Geekerella
“Schumacher wrote a glittering love letter of a debut, aimed at the hearts and souls of book worms everywhere. The layered and complex stories shared by sweet Amelia and revised by the enigmatic Nolan, broke my heart and bound it back together once more, sealed with a perfect kiss.” - ERIN HAHN, author of You’d Be Mine and Never Saw You Coming
11/01/2020
Gr 8 Up—Amelia and Jenna, best friends since middle school, attend a literary festival after graduation, since they share a passion for "The Orman Chronicles," a series written by the young and enigmatic N.E. Endsley. While there, curly-haired Jenna meets the author—but Amelia doesn't, driving a wedge between the two friends just as Jenna leaves for a trip to Ireland before they start college together in the fall. While overseas, Jenna dies in a car accident, leaving her parents and Amelia grief-stricken. Soon afterward, Amelia receives a rare copy of "The Orman Chronicles" in the mail, and she is sure Jenna is behind it. She tracks the book down to an eclectic bookstore in Michigan, where she meets the elusive author, who goes by Nolan. Schumacher's lovely debut will have romantics swooning over blonde-haired, blue-eyed Amelia and black-haired Nolan's love story. These two teens have endured loss and family trauma, but both have found acceptance and family elsewhere, and bring out the best in each other. The novel is also an ode to the love of reading and how books can provide the magic and comfort needed during difficult times. VERDICT Recommended for all YA collections. Readers will root for these resilient protagonists who face heartbreak and must make tough choices.—Nancy McKay, Byron P.L., IL
2020-11-12
A grieving young woman sets out on a quest to meet her favorite reclusive fantasy writer.
As a joint high school graduation gift from Jenna’s parents, narrator Amelia and her best friend, Jenna, fly from their home in Texas to a California book festival so they can meet the reclusive author of the Orman Chronicles books. They leave disappointed, however, when young author N.E. Endsley—only 19—fails to appear. Less than a week later, Jenna dies while studying abroad in Ireland, a last fight between the girls left unresolved. Shortly thereafter, Amelia receives a mysterious limited edition of one of the Orman books, sent from a bookstore in Michigan. Jenna’s parents, who have the financial means and have been treating Amelia for years, pay for her to go investigate; in a somewhat fairy-tale setting on Lake Michigan she meets and befriends Nolan Endsley, who’s grieving losses of his own. Schumacher’s debut meanders through vague fantasylike settings—a fort on the sand dunes, a mysterious room inside the bookstore—and a sort of half-felt emotional landscape of its characters. Nothing’s really at risk for Amelia—at every turn, obstacles are smoothed from her path. Some of her relationships, especially with her parents, who mostly stay off-camera, are shown instead of felt. The timeline of Nolan’s own tragedies and wild successes seems oddly compressed. Main characters are White.
Like a meringue—sweet and decorative but doesn’t really satisfy. (Fiction. 12-18)
