Rose by Any Other Name

by McCarthy, Maureen

• ISBN13: 9781596433724
• ISBN10: 1596433728
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-03-18
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Summary

Don'tcha just hate the way you get caught up in stuff without really wanting to? Then it goes a bit further, and suddenly you're one of those jerks you hate because . . . you can't be trusted.#xA0; #xA0; ROSE WANTS NOTHING MORE THAN TO GET AWAY. Last year she'd had it all: pre-law in the fall, a budding romance, and her best friend, Zoe. Now Zoe will never forgive her, her family is crumbling, and the secret that's been boiling up inside her is bubbling a little too close to the surface. All Rose needs to escape are#xA0;an old van, her surfboard, the road, the ocean, and . . . mom? When Rose's mother jumps in the passenger seat right as Rose is about to set off, her trip takes an unexpected turn, filled with nagging memories of last year, and the looming scandal that refuses to be ignored. A twisting plot that keeps you guessing, told from the viewpoint of a realistically flawed yet snarky main character, makes this a book that just can't be put down. #xA0;

Author Biography

Maureen McCarthy is one of Australia's most popular young adult authors. Her novels have been short listed for numerous awards, and include the bestselling book Queen Kat, Carmel and St. Jude Get a Life, which was made into a highly successful Australian mini-series. This is her American debut.

Table of Contents

I’M ROSE. Rose Greta Patrice O’Neil. Rose. Not short for Rosemary, Rosa, or Rosanne. Just Rose. The name is an embarrassment. I’m not beautiful or delicate or sweet smelling. I’m not even pretty.

So it’s Rose. My father told me that they took one look at me when I was born and decided on Rose because I was pink and scrunched up, and I exuded an air of superiority. Well, okay, thanks, Dad. But I’ve seen the photos, and I don’t look anywhere near as superior as my three older sisters. Hilda. Cynthia. Dorothy. All of them were stunners and they still are. He said it to make me feel better. He is a lawyer. They know how to use words.

I never expected love to come when it did. Nor the way it came. Nor the complete mess it made of my life. I wasn’t hanging out for it either, like some people. My life was fine. Great family. Excellent grades. I got on with people in my own way, and I had a best friend to laugh with and bitch with.

But love found me. It came straight at me like a howling wind. Knocked me to the ground, made me blind, chucked me in the air. And when I crashed, well … I thought everything was over.

But things are never over even when they’re over. I learned that. They change. You think they won’t but they do. Everything changes all the time. That trip I took with my mother was the beginning of things changing for me …

Copyright © 2006 by Maureen McCarthy

Excerpts

I’M ROSE. Rose Greta Patrice O’Neil. Rose. Not short for Rosemary, Rosa, or Rosanne. Just Rose. The name is an embarrassment. I’m not beautiful or delicate or sweet smelling. I’m not even pretty.

So it’s Rose. My father told me that they took one look at me when I was born and decided on Rose because I was pink and scrunched up, and I exuded an air of superiority. Well, okay, thanks, Dad. But I’ve seen the photos, and I don’t look anywhere near as superior as my three older sisters. Hilda. Cynthia. Dorothy. All of them were stunners and they still are. He said it to make me feel better. He is a lawyer. They know how to use words.

I never expected love to come when it did. Nor the way it came. Nor the complete mess it made of my life. I wasn’t hanging out for it either, like some people. My life was fine. Great family. Excellent grades. I got on with people in my own way, and I had a best friend to laugh with and bitch with.

But love found me. It came straight at me like a howling wind. Knocked me to the ground, made me blind, chucked me in the air. And when I crashed, well … I thought everything was over.

But things are never over even when they’re over. I learned that. They change. You think they won’t but they do. Everything changes all the time. That trip I took with my mother was the beginning of things changing for me …

Copyright © 2006 by Maureen McCarthy