Two Girls Staring at the Ceiling

About this book

This novel-in-verseat once literary and emotionally grippingfollows the unfolding friendship between two very different teenage girls who share a hospital room and an illness. Chess the narrator is sick but with what exactly she isnt sure. And to make matters worse she must share a hospital room with Shannon her polar opposite. Where Chess is polite Shannon is rude. Where Chess tolerates pain silently Shannon screams bloody murder. Where Chess seems to be getting slowly better Shannon seems to be getting worse. How these teenagers become friends helping each other come to terms with their illness makes for a dramatic and deeply moving read. "An emotional and innovative novel.... There is so much pathos and humor in these two hospital beds." E. Lockhart author of We Were Liars "A story told with the utmost economy of languageintense compelling and satisfying." Susan Patron author of the Newbery Medal winner The Higher Power of Lucky "Riveting humanizing and real." Kirkus Reviews Starred "A raw unsentimental perspective on the fight to keep an illness from overpowering ones identity." Publishers Weekly