Nowhere Special

Name: Nowhere Special
Brand: Harper Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Matt Wallace
ISBN: 9780063254039

Author: Matt Wallace

Narrator: Christian Barillas

Unabridged: 5 hr 32 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 10/24/2023

Categories: Children's Fiction, Children's Social Themes, Bullying

Synopsis

Author Matt Wallace delivers a deeply moving story exploring that first formative friendship, navigating challenging family circumstances, and finding hope and strength in a forgotten desert town. Perfect for fans of Ernesto Cisneros and Julie Murphy. The isolation and bullying Stan suffers at school are nothing compared to the war at home. After he tries and fails to defend his mom by standing up to his abusive father, Stan decides there is only one solution to finding a new self-confidence: he must learn how to fight.Tragic events have split the two sides of Elpidia’s family into fighting factions. Every day she finds herself outnumbered by her cousins on the schoolyard. After the latest beatdown, her grandmother decides Elpidia must learn how to defend herself.Stan and Elpidia seem like total opposites, but when they both wind up with the same reclusive trainer, they find an unexpected friendship as they work together to overcome their bullies. But when Stan gains the attention of a powerful gang leader, it threatens to pull him away from his new best friend. Will their dreams for the future be enough to get them out of this small town?

About Matt Wallace

Matt Wallace is the Hugo Award–winning author of Rencor: Life in Grudge City, the Sin du Jour series, and Savage Legion. He’s also penned over one hundred short stories in addition to writing for film and television. In his youth he traveled the world as a professional wrestler and unarmed combat and self-defense instructor before retiring to write full-time. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Nikki. You can visit him at www.matt-wallace.com.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Reading_ on December 16, 2023

I really wanted to like this book but I was put off with some very repetitive writing and the story not progressing much with very questionable adult characters doing nothing much about the young characters being bullied much physically in front of their eyes. It’s quite disturbing and disappointing......more

Goodreads review by Heather on January 14, 2024

This book has a warning at the beginning of it that is perfect. I felt prepared for the content that I did read about knowing ahead of time that it could be challenging. I'd say the portrayal of the issues was done well, and well enough for the age the book is being promoted to. Gangs, drugs, domesti......more

Goodreads review by Steph on May 07, 2024

A lovely, heartbreaking, raw young adult read.......more

Goodreads review by Mary on October 22, 2023

Out in the dry, Southen California desert is a place called Lakeshore Estates, where a church has been converted to a school, and the town feels infinitesimal despite the vastness of the desert surrounding it. Both Elpidia and Stan are middle school students who desire nothing more than to feel safe......more

Goodreads review by Alison on April 12, 2023

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Stan and Elpidia are two 12-year old kids in a very small desert town in southern California. Life is not easy for either of them; Elpidia's parents are both in prision and her somewhat estranged cousins are beating he......more