Entertainment Weekly's 10 Best YA Books of the Year (2019)
2020 CCBC Choices List
2020 Rise: A Feminist Book Project List (Young Adult Fiction)
The Readings Young Adult Book Prize Winner (2018)
Shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards (2018)
Shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards (2019)
Winner of the 2019 Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature
Shortlisted for the Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature (2019)
Shortlisted for the 2019 Gold Inky Award
Shortlisted for the 2019 ABIA Awards - Book of the Year for Older Children (ages 13+)
The White Ravens List (2019)
"Sharp-witted and unapologetically queer, with an opposites-attract romance I absolutely adored."—Malinda Lo, author of Ash and A Line in the Dark
"The novel is a zippy, heady reminder of the power we have inside ourselves to speak truth to power, to lash out at a system that has lured us into a false sense of comfort. ...Gough's true gift, however, is her ability to take a tale about power, privilege, and protest, and avoid anything that feels polemical or preachy. Instead, she's crafted a love story steeped in social justice that feels fresh, funny, fierce, and full of hope." (A rating)
—Entertainment Weekly
"Gough's novel pulses with hilarious, defiant heart. I rooted for unlikely allies Harriet and Will from the first pages and couldn't get enough of their chemistry. Maybe Amelia Westlake is imaginary, but her triumph over injustice is so gratifying and genuine."—Adrienne Kisner, author of Dear Rachel Maddow
"Empowering and insightful, Amelia Westlake Was Never Here is a rollicking reminder that even the smallest actions can change the world. This book is a feminist, romantic delight."—Ashley Herring Blake, author of Girl Made of Stars
"Filled with surprises and twists, Amelia Westlake Was Never Here is so smart and quick that I found myself speed reading to find out what happened next—and then going back to make sure I didn't miss a single line. Clever and effortless."—Katrina Leno, author of The Half Life of Molly Pierce
"Quirky, original, and completely charming characters, an adorable love story, plus a feminist plot to take down institutionalized misogyny at a stuffy prep school... Yes please. I loved everything about this book."—Sarah Watson, creator of The Bold Type and author of Most Likely
* "A refreshing, timely, and downright delightful story with a diverse, three-dimensional cast of characters whose hijinks are thrilling without being unrealistic."
—School Library Connection, starred review
* "This is quick-witted, fiercely intelligent storytelling at its finest—a testament to the power of women, LGBTQ strong, socially conscious, enormously fun, and utterly irresistible."—VOYA, starred review
* "Gough manages to strike the perfect balance between heartwarming queer romance and essential social criticism in this pertinent and empowering story."—Shelf Awareness, starred review
"Well-paced and satisfying.... Empowering."
—Kirkus Reviews
"Plenty of high-stakes drama. A vigilante justice story with a moral compass and a tender heart."—Booklist
"Creative, funny, and satisfying."—Horn Book
"[For] readers who like their feminist empowerment and gay-positive romances with a healthy dose of fun."—BCCB
"A hilarious social satire wrapped in a queer love story."—Cecilia Cackley, East City Bookshop (Washington, DC)
"Light and funny with fantastic character development and a delicious slow-burn queer romance."—Abby Rauscher, Books Are Magic (Brooklyn, NY)
"This is the greatest hoax I have ever had the pleasure of reading."—Nichole Cousins, White Birch Books (North Conway, NH)
"This hilarious romantic comedy takes you through hoaxes and loves and fears."—Abby Rice, The Briar Patch (Bangor, ME)
"Come for patriarchy-smashing pranks; stay for the sweet love story."—NPR Books
"[Audiobook narrators] Moll and Rosenberg nail the quirks and layers of their characters perfectly-from Will's disaffected sneer, which covers up her deep vulnerability, to Harriet's chipper observations, which are tinged with quiet desperation. The narrators excel at creating distinct voices for each girl while consistently mirroring the other in the dialogue between them. The consistency gives listeners insight into Will's changing perception of Harriet and vice versa."—AudioFile
06/14/2019
Gr 7 Up-Elite private school students Harriet Price and Will Everhart could not be more different—Harriet must constantly maintain her image as the perfect student and athlete while Will has a history of agitation and troublemaking. When they land in detention together after witnessing their swim coach's inappropriate and sexist behavior, they start publishing cartoons under the pseudonym Amelia Westlake, exposing examples of the systemic injustice running rampant at their school. Amelia's cartoons and other acts of protest ripple throughout the school—making other students feel uncomfortable at the minor acts of defiance, or giving them the courage to find their own voices and speak out against the power imbalances in their school. This is a funny romantic comedy that takes the "opposites attract" trope and sets it against a background of playful and subversive feminist protest reminiscent of Jennifer Mathieu's Moxie, Adrienne Kisner's Dear Rachel Maddow, or E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. What makes this novel stand out is the attention to character development and the attention paid to the various ways teens are expected to live within the boundaries created by adults. VERDICT The variety of social pressures that Harriet and Will struggle with will resonate with readers who find themselves pulled in a dozen different directions by the expectations of parents, peers, teachers, and social norms.-Erin Downey, Boise School District, ID
Candice Moll and Jaye Rosenberg nimbly alternate chapters as they narrate this audiobook. Who is an incisive cartoonist, a prankster, and a righter of wrongs? That’s the question everyone’s asking at prestigious Rosemead School, and the answer is Amelia Westlake. But Amelia is a hoax—two students have made her up. Wilhelmina is a sarcastic and antisocial artist. Harriet is a people-pleasing model student. They had nothing in common until they invented Amelia, and now they can’t concentrate on anything else. Moll and Rosenberg nail the quirks and layers of their characters perfectly—from Will’s disaffected sneer, which covers up her deep vulnerability, to Harriet’s chipper observations, which are tinged with quiet desperation. The narrators excel at creating distinct voices for each girl while consistently mirroring the other in the dialogue between them. The consistency gives listeners insight into Will’s changing perception of Harriet and vice versa. N.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Candice Moll and Jaye Rosenberg nimbly alternate chapters as they narrate this audiobook. Who is an incisive cartoonist, a prankster, and a righter of wrongs? That’s the question everyone’s asking at prestigious Rosemead School, and the answer is Amelia Westlake. But Amelia is a hoax—two students have made her up. Wilhelmina is a sarcastic and antisocial artist. Harriet is a people-pleasing model student. They had nothing in common until they invented Amelia, and now they can’t concentrate on anything else. Moll and Rosenberg nail the quirks and layers of their characters perfectly—from Will’s disaffected sneer, which covers up her deep vulnerability, to Harriet’s chipper observations, which are tinged with quiet desperation. The narrators excel at creating distinct voices for each girl while consistently mirroring the other in the dialogue between them. The consistency gives listeners insight into Will’s changing perception of Harriet and vice versa. N.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
2019-02-20
Opposites attract in this story of pranks, justice, and hate-to-love romance.
Harriet Price and Will Everhart feel like they're worlds apart despite being in the same year at the same prestigious girls' private school. Harriet is well-off, a prefect, and a tennis champion obsessed with not rocking the boat. Will is fiery and rebellious, a middle-class student who resents the establishment. When they witness a coach yet again sexually harassing students, however, the duo surprise themselves and decide to team up to take action. Working secretly under the pseudonym Amelia Westlake, the pair starts with a series of school newspaper comics satirizing the school's sexism and general complicity. They build momentum with larger-scale pranks that further their message, growing closer as they do so. As their hoax grows bigger and bigger, the two must decide what they're willing to risk—friendships, girlfriends, expulsion—to further the legend of Amelia Westlake (and their relationship). Harriet's and Will's characterizations sometimes fall flat, and their alternating first-person narrations sound less distinct than might be anticipated. Their romance is well-paced and satisfying. Emotional abuse, heterosexism, and racism are all touched upon in the narrative but are secondary to the skewering of sexism and institutional hypocrisy. The majority of characters are white, although a prominent secondary character is first-generation Vietnamese-Australian.
Imperfect but empowering. (Fiction. 12-18)
