Maybe One Day

9780062279200

Melissa Kantor
Maybe One Day
(HarperTeen, February 2014)

In the tradition of The Fault in Our Stars, critically acclaimed author Melissa Kantor masterfully captures the joy of friendship, the agony of loss, and the unique experience of being a teenager in this poignant new novel about a girl grappling with her best friend’s life-threatening illness.

A person’s whole life, she’s lucky to have one or two real friends. Friends who are like family… For Zoe, that someone is Olivia. So when Olivia is diagnosed with leukemia, Zoe is determined to put on a brave face and be positive for her best friend.

Even when she isn’t sure what to say. Even when Olivia misses months of school. Even when Zoe starts falling for Calvin, Olivia’s crush.

The one thing that keeps Zoe moving forward is knowing that Olivia will beat this, and everything will go back to the way it was before. It has to. Because the alternative is too terrifying for her to even imagine.

 

Praise for Maybe One Day

“Kantor expertly creates a balanced novel that conveys heartfelt emotion without veering toward the maudlin… The dialogue is fresh and authentic, and Zoe is a layered narrator in Kantor’s hands-she is at once angry, sad, optimistic, and confused… While this novel will certainly appeal to teens seeking a good cry along the lines of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars (Dutton, 2012) or Jenny Downham’s Before I Die (Random, 2007), Maybe One Day will also resonate with those looking for a faithful portrayal of female friendship.”
—Library Journal
“Kantor ably steers the reader through the intensity of Zoe’s brief life-changing experience, weaving in realistic high-school dynamics and Zoe’s search for anything to take her mind off her sadness… Though this contemporary cancer story laced with everyday and extraordinary experiences will undoubtedly draw comparisons to that other cancer book, Livvie’s cancer story and Zoe’s emotionally complex web of friendship, fear, loss, love, pain, have their own appeal, and are well worth reading.”
— Booklist

“A beautiful, heartbreaking story about friendship, loss, and what it means to truly live. I loved it.”
— Lauren Barnholdt, author of The Thing About the Truth and Two-Way Street

 

Melissa Kantor is the author of Maybe One Day; Confessions of a Not It Girl, an ALA Booklist Best Romance Novel for Youth; If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where’s My Prince?, a YALSA Teens Top Ten Pick; The Breakup Bible, an ALA Best Books for Young Adults nominee; Girlfriend Material, a Junior Library Guild selection; and The Darlings Are Forever and The Darlings in Love, a Junior Library Guild selection. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her family.