Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers
an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
Elizabeth Kerins • Senior Publicist • 646-307-5210 •
My Life Undecided
By Jessica Brody
“As always, I swear I will follow whatever your final vote dictates, so pleeeeease don’t take this decision lightly…This one result could drastically change the course of my life. I’m counting on you to make the right decision.”
Jessica Brody’s young adult debut The Karma Club was praised by authors, reviewers and teens alike for its wit, true-to-life dialogue and genuine heroine. Fans of Jessica’s debut will not be disappointed with her sophomore effort, MY LIFE UNDECIDED(FSG BYFR/ 978-0-374-39905-4/ $16.99/ June 2011) with all the same heart as The Karma Club plus a little romance.
You could say fifteen-year-old Brooklyn Pierce is infamous for making poor decisions. When she was only two years old, Brooklyn chased a lizard down an abandoned mine shaft and it took rescue workers forty-eight hours to pull her to safety. Americawas glued to the television. As notorious as “Balloon Boy,” “Baby Brooklyn” has gone on to make one mistake after the next. When the Queen Bee of Parker Highconvinces Brooklyn to host the-party-of-the-year while her parents are out of town, Brooklyn ends up in handcuffs and reaches her breaking point: something has got to change.
It’s then that Brooklyn comes up with the brilliant plan to start the blog mylifeundecided.com. She writes a desperate plea to the blogosphere, “SAVE ME…I think I’ve proven that I clearly can’t be trusted to make my own choice. And that’s why I need YOU to make them for me.” Brooklyn posts her dilemmas online followed by a simple poll and vows to do whatever her growing number of readers tell her. Should she tryout for the rugby team? Go on that extra credit field trip? Sneak off to a club opening with thedreamy new kid or hit the diner with her nerdy (and funny, and kind, andmaybe a little cute) debate partner?
Following the guidance of her readers, Brooklynmakes friends she never expected and transforms into a person she doesn’t recognize. And she starts to learn the hard way that when it comes to being true to yourself, there are no short cuts, and sometimes the easiest decisions of all are the hardest ones for us to see.
For anyone who has ever wished growing up was a little less complicated, MY LIFE UNDECIDED is an irresistible read you will not be able to put down.
About Jessica Brody
After graduating from SmithCollege in 2001, Jessica went on to work for MGM Studios as a Manager of Acquisitions and Business Development. In May of 2005, she quit her job to follow her dreamof becoming a published author. In four short years, Jessica sold five novels (two adult novels to St. Martin's Press and three young adult novels to Farrar, Straus, Giroux BFYR. The Karma Club, Jessica's debut young adult novel, released in April of 2010 with My Life Undecided coming this June.
The skills and connections from MGM continue to play a vital role in her career. Jessica has produced high quality, cinematic book trailers for all her titles to date and recently released The Karma Club book soundtrack to partner with the novel. Three of the ten songs based on the book are sung by Radio Disney star Savannah Outen, whose YouTube channel has nearly 300,000 subscribers and over 69,000,000 uploads.
Jessica recently sold five more YA titles to Farrar, Straus, Giroux BFYR. 52 Reasons to Hate My Fatherwill be out in Spring 2012 and has already be optioned for film by producer Jane Startz (Ella Enchanted, Tuck Everlasting, The Indian in the Cupboard, The Babysitters Club).Unremembered, the first book in a new sci-fi series, will be released in Fall 2012 and has also been optioned for film by producer Doug Davison (The Departed, The Lake House, The Ring, How to Train Your Dragon). Jessica's books are published in over ten foreign countries including the UK, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Russia, Brazil, China, Portugal, Israel, and Taiwan.
Jessica now works full time as a writer and producer. She currently splits her time between Los Angeles and Denver.
Visit JessicaBrody.com for trailers, wallpapers, videos, photos, advice and more!
My Life Undecided • By Jessica BrodyPublished by Farrar Straus Giroux BFYR• ISBN: 978-0-374-39905-4
Hardcover Young Adult Fiction • Ages 12 and up/ Grades 6 and up • 320 pages
$16.99 • On Sale June 2011
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Praise for The Karma Club by Jessica Brody
Available in trade paper May 24, 2011!
“Equal parts fresh, funny, and engaging,The Karma Club is the story of one girl’s attempt to speedKarma along only to discover thatKarma plays by its own rules. Jessica Brody has created a witty, endearing heroine in Maddy Kasparkova—this is one YA debut you won’t want to miss!” —Alyson Noël, #1 New York Times bestselling author the Immortals series and Radiance: A Riley Bloom Book
“All the fun and intrigue of Gossip Girl, with the heart of a Sarah Dessen novel and the soul of the I Ching.” —Gabrielle Zevin, author of Elsewhere and Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
“Written with wit and panache. Readers will have fun with this one, and it might make them think a little, too.” —Booklist
“The action-packed narrative builds an impressive amount of suspense for what is essentially a comic romance, and readers might learn a thing or two about Buddhist philosophy along the way.”—Kirkus Reviews
“The Karma Club is exactly the book you’d want to read after getting dumped.With an effortless understanding of the teen landscape, Jessica Brody takes the classic tale of ‘what goes around, comes around’ and crafts a fresh, funny, relatable story that proves it’s never to late to admit your mistakes and set Karma back on its natural course.”—Rosalind Wiseman, New York Times best-selling author of Queen Bees & Wannabees
“It's a well-paced comedy, with a nice balance of cinematic physical humor and genuine teen emotions.”—Publishers Weekly
“This fun, fast-paced read will bring a smile to the face of anyone who has dealt with high school’s ups and downs, and will make them think before they meddle with fortune” —School Library Journal
“The book reads well, is humorous and teaches important lessons most learned the hard way. On the last page, Maddy writes an article about her Karma Club which has gone public in doing good deeds, including the creation of aWeb site, . The website not only promotes the book but also gives everyday ‘tips for a better world.’Jessica Brody may have started a movement, a positive one.”—VOYA
Soundtrack available on iTunes and Amazon.com!
The Karma Club • By Jessica BrodyPublished by Square Fish• ISBN: 978-0-312-67473-1
Trade Paper Young Adult Fiction • Ages 12 and up/ Grades 7 and up • 288 pages
$8.99 • On Sale May 24, 2011
MACMILLAN CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING GROUP