Cath Crowley

Years ago, Rachel had a crush on Henry Jones. The day before she moved away, she tucked a love letter into his favorite book in his family's bookshop. She waited. But Henry never came. Now Rachel has returned to the city -- and to the bookshop -- to work alongside the boy she'd rather not see, if at all possible, for the rest of her life. But Rachel needs the distraction, and the escape. Her brother drowned months ago, and she can't feel anything...

One Australian summer, two very different sixteen-year-old girls--Charlie, a talented but shy musician, and Rose, a confident student longing to escape her tiny town--are drawn into an unexpected friendship, as told in their alternating voices.

Essays by popular children's authors reveal the books that shaped their personal and literary lives, explaining how the stories they loved influenced them creatively, politically, and intellectually.