Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Truth About Us by Janet Gurtler! Today I have an excerpt from the book to share with you - and don't forget to enter the giveaway!
The Truth About Us
Author: Janet Gurtler
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Release Date: April 7, 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Description:
Flynn’s from the wrong side of the tracks, but he may be just right for Jess…
The
truth is that Jess knows she’s screwed up. She’s made mistakes, even
betrayed her best friend, and now she’s paying for it. Her dad is making
her spend the whole summer volunteering at the local soup kitchen.
The
truth is that she wishes she was the carefree party girl everyone
thinks she is. She pretends it’s all fine. That her “perfect” family is
fine. But it’s not. And no one notices the lie…until she meets Flynn.
He’s the only one who really sees her. The only one who really listens.
The
truth is that Jess is falling apart, and no one seems to care. But
Flynn is the definition of “the wrong side of the tracks.” When Jess’s
parents look at him, they only see their differences, not how much she
and Flynn need each other. They don’t get that the person who shouldn’t
fit into your world might just be the one who makes you feel like you
belong.
Praise for Janet Gurtler:
“Just right for fans of Sarah Dessen and Jodi Picoult.” –Booklist
"Powerful…a gripping read.” VOYA
The
greenhouse is sort of shaped like an old barn. It’s opaque with plastic
and steel siding. The door is open, and I follow Wilf inside and pause
and then breathe it in. The smell nourishes me. Moist air fills my
lungs. I’ve forgotten how much the scents of greenery soothe me. It
reminds me of different times. Simpler times.
“Nice,”
I tell him, looking around at rows of plants on tabletops and plants
stacked on the floor. I realize I’ve missed the satisfaction of
nurturing plants.
There’s a man on a ladder in the
middle of the greenhouse, fixing a shelf, with his back to us. A little
boy stands at the bottom of the ladder, watching. Wilf walks over and
pats his head and kneels down to his level. “How are ya, big guy?”
The little boy stands taller and giggles and holds out his hand. He’s got it wrapped tightly around a plastic blue train.
The man on the ladder turns and looks down at me. My heart stops.
It’s not a man at all. It’s him.
Flynn.
--------------------------------------------------
My face burns.
“What are you doing here?” he asks.
Wilf
frowns and then looks at me. “What’s up with you kids these days? In my
time, we treated nice--looking young ladies with respect,” he says to
Flynn gruffly. “Flynn, this is Jess. She volunteers here.”
I say a silent thank--you to him for calling me nice--looking and glance back at Flynn.
“Since when?” he asks.
“Since now. How about, ‘hello, nice to meet you’?” Wilf says to prompt both of us. “Is that so hard?”
“We’ve already met,” Flynn says.
My cheeks stay on fire as he climbs down the ladder.
“The
shelf is fixed,” he says to Wilf. “Slumming?” he adds to me as he jumps
to the floor. He folds up the ladder and then leans it against a
counter lined with plants.
The little boy stares back and forth.
I try to think of something light and witty to save the moment, but my mind is blank. Instead, I panic. “What’d you do to get stuck working at this place?” I say, channeling my inner Nance.
“What’d
I do?” He stares at me and then his lips turn up. “I didn’t have the
right daddy, I guess. I’m here to have lunch. With my little brother.
I’m not a volunteer.”
My stomach drops. Fail. Epic fail.
RITA
Award finalist Janet Gurtler’s young adult books have been chosen for
the Junior Library Guild Selection and as Best Books For Teens from the
Canadian Children’s Book Center. She has had her writing compared to
Judy Blume and Jodi Picoult and that makes her happy. She has
volunteered at a few soup kitchens and hopes to do more. Giving back is
so important. Janet lives in Okotoks, Alberta, Canada, with her husband,
son, and a chubby black Chihuahua named Bruce.
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