Kissing In America

Acclaimed writer Margo Rabb's Kissing in America is 'a wonderful novel about friendship, love, travel, life, hope, poetry, intelligence, and the inner lives of girls,'writes internationally bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love).

Sixteen-year-old Eva has never been in love. But when she meets Will, everything changes. With him, her grief over her father's death fades, and she can escape from her difficult relationship with her mother. Then, without any warning, Will picks up and moves to California. So Eva—with the help of her best friend, Annie—concocts a plan to travel across the country to see him again. As they leave New York City for the first time and road-trip across America, they encounter cowboys, kudzu, and tiny towns without stoplights. Along the way, Eva and Annie learn the truth about love and all its complexities.

In this honest and emotional journey that US National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr calls 'gorgeous, funny, and joyous,' readers will experience the highs of infatuation and the lows of heartache as Eva contends with love in all its forms.

Praise for Kissing in America:

'Wonderful . . . Margo Rabb has created nothing less than a women's map of American mythologies, navigating from Emily Dickinson to Barbara Cartland, from the cowboys of the rodeos to the makeup studios of Hollywood, and from the bottom of the Atlantic to the spacious skies of the USA.' —E. Lockhart, New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars

'A wonderful novel about friendship, love, travel, life, hope, poetry, intelligence and the inner lives of girls. Margo Rabb writes with compassion and clarity about lives that are worth telling, journeys that need to be taken, peace that needs to be reached. I loved it.' —Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray Love

'That Margo Rabb can write a story so gorgeous, funny, and joyous that is also unsentimental and honest is a testament to her skill and to her heart. I loved everything about Eva and the supporting cast in this beautiful novel.' —Sara Zarr, author of The Lucy Variations

Praise for Margo Rabb's debut novel, Cures for Heartbreak:

'Rabb leavens impossible heartbreak with surprising humor, delivered with a comedian's timing and dark absurdity. Rabb is an exceptionally gifted writer . . . Readers will cherish this powerful debut.' —Booklist (Starred Review)

'Black humor, pitch-perfect detail, and compelling characters make this a terrific read, despite the pain that permeates every superbly written page. As Mia struggles to make sense of her mother's death and her father's illness, she also sees humor in everyday situations, and her irreverent commentary brings the story to life.' —School Library Journal (Starred Review)

'This is undeniably a book of anguish, it's also one of raw strength and casual, clever humor in random and surprising places, making it a compelling as well as tearful read.' —The Bulletin (Starred Review)

'The characters are fully formed and when the last page turns, four new and fascinating people have been born into the reader's consciousness.' Kliatt (Starred Review)

'Everybody, regardless of age, should read this novel - witty, warm, and gorgeous in its fearlessness'—Philadelphia Inquirer

'Best friends leave New York City for the first time and take a transformative road trip to Los Angeles.

'Sixteen-year-old Eva Roth's penchant for reading romance novels (118 at last count) is termed 'your ultimate rebellion' by her mom, a women's studies professor. Eva is a poet, and she used to write alongside her beloved father, but when he died in a plane crash two years earlier, she stopped writing. Rabb eloquently gets grief right in this compassionate, perceptive, and poignant story, deftly leavened with irreverent humor, of a girl in conflict with her mother. Poems by Elizabeth Bishop, Emily Dickinson, Adrienne Rich, Nikki Giovanni, Marie Howe, and others are so beautifully integrated into the first-person narrative that the poetry comes alive. Eva's burgeoning, heart-stopping relationship with senior Will Freeman initially helps her begin to find a way out of grief, as does her smart, empathetic best friend, Annie Kim, with whom she can share the absurdity of it all. But Will unexpectedly moves to California, and with Annie's participation, Eva comes up with a truly creative road-trip plan—one in which America, land of endless possibilities, serves as a backdrop for unexpected love. And love is really what this remarkable story is all about.