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The First Time She Drowned
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)

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Published:
Penguin Young Readers Group 2016
Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Accelerated Reader:
IL: UG - BL: 5.4 - AR Pts: 14
Lexile measure:
830L
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description
The beautiful struggle of a girl desperate for the one relationship that has caused her the most pain
Cassie O'Malley has spent the past two and a half years in a mental institution—dumped there by her mother, against her will. Now, at 18, Cassie emancipates herself, determined to start over. She attends college, forms new friendships, and even attempts to start fresh with her mother. But before long, their unhealthy relationship threatens to pull Cassie under once again. As Cassie struggles to reclaim her life, childhood memories persist and confuse, and Cassie must consider whose version of history is real, and more important, whose life she must save.
A bold, literary story about the fragile complexities of mothers and daughters and learning to love oneself, The First Time She Drowned reminds us that we must dive deep into our pasts if we are ever to move forward.
Praise for The First Time She Drowned:

"Lyrical, emotional...resonant." Entertainment Weekly, MUST LIST
"Beautiful and passionate . . . [Kletter is] a writer of great distinction and infinite promise." —Pat Conroy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Prince of Tides and South of Broad
"[A] lovely and haunting keep-you-up-all-night heart-wrencher that is both beautiful and raw, painful and uplifting. It’s utterly amazing. An incredible read." —Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places
"Sentence by sentence . . . one of the most lyrical novels I’ve ever read. Haunting and exquisite." —Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything
"The First Time She Drowned is an exquisite and masterful dive, a brave exploration into the complexities of family, and the saving grace of friendship. Kletter’s writing is hypnotic, her characters alive, her story tragic, beautiful, hopeful. Simply put, this book is stunning." —David Arnold, critically acclaimed author of Mosquitoland
"[A] beautiful, gut-wrenching ache of a story. If you are at all interested in books, this is required reading." —Becky Albertalli, author of the Morris Award-winning Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
"The best writers are able to tell the most difficult stories with the most empathy, and that’s just what Kletter does in this haunting debut. Complex, affirming, and beautifully written." —Stephanie Kuehn, author of the Morris Award-winning Charm & Strange
"Gorgeous, sumptuously lyrical, luminous…a feast for lovers of language. The First Time She Drowned singlehandedly shatters every argument that YA books aren't fit fare for adults." —Jeff Zentner, author of The Serpent King
* "[An] excellent debut novel....heart-wrenching....Readers who enjoy the suspense of unreliable narrators, as in Adele Griffin’s Loud Awake and Lost or Stephanie Kuehn’s Complicit, will appreciate this one." —Booklist *STARRED REVIEW*
"This heartfelt, lyrical debut will strike a chord with older teens who appreciate contemporary fiction." —Kirkus Reviews
"An absorbing read." —VOYA
"Kletter’s exploration of a dysfunctional family...is raw with emotion…a sophisticated read.” —School Library...
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More Details
Street Date:
03/15/2016
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780698188938
ASIN:
B01071RFK4
Accelerated Reader:
UG
Level 5.4, 14 Points
Lexile measure:
830
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Kerry Kletter. (2016). The First Time She Drowned. Penguin Young Readers Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Kerry Kletter. 2016. The First Time She Drowned. Penguin Young Readers Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Kerry Kletter, The First Time She Drowned. Penguin Young Readers Group, 2016.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Kerry Kletter. The First Time She Drowned. Penguin Young Readers Group, 2016.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
LibraryOwnedAvailable
Anne Arundel County Public Library22
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
2a88ebed-b830-208e-818c-99f6b28aadcb
Go To Grouped Work
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Jun 03, 2017 05:55:30
Date Updated:
Nov 16, 2017 00:05:48
Last Metadata Check:
Mar 24, 2024 05:21:54
Last Metadata Change:
Mar 24, 2024 05:21:54
Last Availability Check:
Mar 24, 2024 05:21:57
Last Availability Change:
Feb 01, 2024 00:21:43
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Mar 28, 2024 04:05:51

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      • value: Teen mental health
      • value: gifts for mom
      • value: mental health books
      • value: teen fiction books
      • value: mom books
      • value: books for 13 year old boys
      • value: books for 13 year old girls
      • value: books for 14 year old girls
      • value: books for 14 year old boys
      • value: realistic fiction books for kids 12-15
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title
The First Time She Drowned
fullDescription
The beautiful struggle of a girl desperate for the one relationship that has caused her the most pain
Cassie O'Malley has spent the past two and a half years in a mental institution—dumped there by her mother, against her will. Now, at 18, Cassie emancipates herself, determined to start over. She attends college, forms new friendships, and even attempts to start fresh with her mother. But before long, their unhealthy relationship threatens to pull Cassie under once again. As Cassie struggles to reclaim her life, childhood memories persist and confuse, and Cassie must consider whose version of history is real, and more important, whose life she must save.
A bold, literary story about the fragile complexities of mothers and daughters and learning to love oneself, The First Time She Drowned reminds us that we must dive deep into our pasts if we are ever to move forward.
Praise for The First Time She Drowned:

"Lyrical, emotional...resonant." Entertainment Weekly, MUST LIST
"Beautiful and passionate . . . [Kletter is] a writer of great distinction and infinite promise." —Pat Conroy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Prince of Tides and South of Broad
"[A] lovely and haunting keep-you-up-all-night heart-wrencher that is both beautiful and raw, painful and uplifting. It’s utterly amazing. An incredible read." —Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places
"Sentence by sentence . . . one of the most lyrical novels I’ve ever read. Haunting and exquisite." —Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything
"The First Time She Drowned is an exquisite and masterful dive, a brave exploration into the complexities of family, and the saving grace of friendship. Kletter’s writing is hypnotic, her characters alive, her story tragic, beautiful, hopeful. Simply put, this book is stunning." —David Arnold, critically acclaimed author of Mosquitoland
"[A] beautiful, gut-wrenching ache of a story. If you are at all interested in books, this is required reading." —Becky Albertalli, author of the Morris Award-winning Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
"The best writers are able to tell the most difficult stories with the most empathy, and that’s just what Kletter does in this haunting debut. Complex, affirming, and beautifully written." —Stephanie Kuehn, author of the Morris Award-winning Charm & Strange
"Gorgeous, sumptuously lyrical, luminous…a feast for lovers of language. The First Time She Drowned singlehandedly shatters every argument that YA books aren't fit fare for adults." —Jeff Zentner, author of The Serpent King
* "[An] excellent debut novel....heart-wrenching....Readers who enjoy the suspense of unreliable narrators, as in Adele Griffin’s Loud Awake and Lost or Stephanie Kuehn’s Complicit, will appreciate this one." —Booklist *STARRED REVIEW*
"This heartfelt, lyrical debut will strike a chord with older teens who appreciate contemporary fiction." —Kirkus Reviews
"An absorbing read." —VOYA
"Kletter’s exploration of a dysfunctional family...is raw with emotion…a sophisticated read.” —School Library...
gradeLevels
      • value: Grade 4
      • value: Grade 5
reviews
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        December 21, 2015
        Kletter���s emotionally devastating first novel portrays life under a domineering and narcissistic mother. Placed in a psychiatric hospital at age 15 by her family, Cassie O���Malley is terrified to leave her comfortable routine and friends when she signs herself out at 18 to begin college. Unable to cope with the expectations of college life, Cassie retreats further into herself, risking her chance for a fresh start until new friend Zoey and love interest Chris encourage her to socialize. When she begins seeing Liz, the school counselor, Cassie���s flashbacks point to a manipulative mother, absent father, and siblings caught in the middle of their mother���s battles for affection and control. Kletter frames wrenching moments between mother and daughter and troubling references to suicide with the murky outlines of Cassie���s childhood memories, suggesting how easily one���s life can spiral out of control when abuse is involved. When more disturbing memories surface, Cassie must decide whether to retreat into her mother���s destructive realm or embrace her friends and trust that she is lovable. A complex novel that ultimately uplifts. Ages 14���up. Agent: Catherine Drayton, Inkwell Management.

      • premium: True
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:

        December 15, 2015
        A teen who was wrongly confined to a psychiatric hospital for over two years struggles after she leaves and goes to college. Cassie's histrionic, image-conscious, abusive mother is the center of her daughter's universe in this poignant novel. As a young child growing up in a white family that "lived on the poor side of a wealthy town in Pennsylvania," Cassie does all she can to be seen in the same prized light as her older brother, but after a damaging experience with her mother's class-conscious aunt takes place, she eventually rebels, enraging her mother. The story opens as Cassie leaves the facility to which her mother connived to have her committed. At school she finds a true friend in her likable, goofy roommate, Zoey, but still returns repeatedly to the abrasive coping mechanisms that have allowed her to survive. Eventually, an unexpectedly helpful therapist is able to build a rapport with Cassie, and she remembers suppressed memories from her childhood. While there are realistic catalysts preceding this therapeutic revelation, including an intense make-out session with a boy she likes that ends in disaster, it seems to arrive a bit too conveniently, but the story's dramatic tension will keep readers engaged regardless. This heartfelt, lyrical debut will strike a chord with older teens who appreciate contemporary fiction. (Fiction. 14-18)

        COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

      • premium: True
      • source: School Library Journal
      • content:

        January 1, 2016

        Gr 9 Up-Cassie O'Malley is 18 and can finally (against medical advice) check herself out of the mental institution she was committed to by her parents. Having been admitted into her mother's alma mater, an anxious yet hopeful Cassie attends college. While there, she finds it difficult to make friends and go to class, because she lacks coping and social skills. As childhood memories bubble to the surface, Cassie begins to question her upbringing. Kletter's exploration of a dysfunctional family through the eyes of a daughter is raw with emotion. The storytelling moves forward in time with flashback scenes to fill in the character's backstory. The author expertly establishes the familial connections, but the development of new bonds in college moves jarringly fast, especially given the complexities of and attention paid to Cassie's relationships with her mother, brother, father, and other extended family members. This book could contain triggers for students who have experienced sexual abuse at the hands of a relative. It is a sophisticated read that-given more pages to develop in the collegiate setting-could easily be placed on new adult shelves. Great for fans of Stephanie Kuehn's Charm & Strange (St. Martin's, 2013). VERDICT Sophisticated readers who enjoy dark realistic fiction will be satisfied by this lyrical novel.-Stephanie DeVincentis, Downers Grove North High School, IL

        Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • premium: True
      • source: Booklist
      • content:

        Starred review from February 15, 2016
        Grades 8-11 *Starred Review* The first time Cassie drowned, she was six years old. Desperate for a bit of her mother's attention, she leaped into a pool without her life preserver. Tragically, yet true to form, her family piled into the car and almost drove away without her. Cassie continued drowning in her mother's disdainful neglect until, at 15, she was delivered to a mental institution. Now Cassie is turning 18, free to leave the hospital and ready to take up her mother's unexpected offer of college. But Cassie is still drowning, literally and figuratively, as she suffers through pneumonia and memories of her family's twisted dynamics. Why was she forced into a mental institution? Was she truly out of control, or was she coldly manipulated by her mother? Kletter's excellent debut novel incorporates the dubious reliability of Cassie's narration with the psychological mind games played her cruelly self-absorbed mother. Cassie is continually on the verge of such heart-wrenching pain that she does seem to drown, over and over again, in fury and denial. Readers who enjoy the suspense of unreliable narrators, as in Adele Griffin's Loud Awake and Lost (2013) or Stephanie Kuehn's Complicit (2014), will appreciate this one.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

      • premium: True
      • source: The Horn Book
      • content:

        January 1, 2017
        Cassie, now eighteen, releases herself from the mental institution where her mother put her over two years ago to attend college. But Cassie's well-being suffers as she tries to rebuild her relationship with her toxic mother. While powerfully depicting the trauma of abuse and the challenges of recovery, the conveniently timed flashback that facilitates the story's conclusion feels like an obvious plot device.

        (Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

popularity
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shortDescription
The beautiful struggle of a girl desperate for the one relationship that has caused her the most pain
Cassie O'Malley has spent the past two and a half years in a mental institution—dumped there by her mother, against her will. Now, at 18, Cassie emancipates herself, determined to start over. She attends college, forms new friendships, and even attempts to start fresh with her mother. But before long, their unhealthy relationship threatens to pull Cassie under once again. As Cassie struggles to reclaim her life, childhood memories persist and confuse, and Cassie must consider whose version of history is real, and more important, whose life she must save.
A bold, literary story about the fragile complexities of mothers and daughters and learning to love oneself, The First Time She Drowned reminds us that we must dive deep into our pasts if we are ever to move forward.
Praise for The First Time She...
sortTitle
First Time She Drowned
lexileScore
830
crossRefId
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publisher
Penguin Young Readers Group
atos
5.4
bisacCodes
      • code: YAF018060
      • description: Young Adult Fiction / Family / Parents
      • code: YAF058060
      • description: Young Adult Fiction / Social Themes / Depression
      • code: YAF058240
      • description: Young Adult Fiction / Social Themes / Sexual Abuse