• Read this stickie before posting.

    • In order to reduce the number of new members requesting a Beta reader before they're really ready for one, we've instituted a 50 post requirement before you can start a thread seeking a Beta reader.
    • You can still volunteer to Beta for someone else; just please don't request someone to Beta for you until you're more familiar with the community and our members.

Beta needed for YA contemp, 47k words

Status
Not open for further replies.
lenore_x

lenore_x

Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
979
Reaction score
116
Location
Seattle
Website
laurenmhunter.com
I'm looking for someone who "specializes" in contemporary YA. I've only ever written fantasy before, so I'd like to hear from someone with more experience in this genre. :) Here's a summary:

When eighteen-year-old Jillian's estranged father commits suicide, she could hardly care less. Identifying the body? A cool biology lesson. Planning a funeral? Definitely not on her to-do list.

But as next of kin, Jillian is charged with cleaning out her dad's old apartment. In between dumping ash trays and throwing out beer bottles, she finds a box of letters her parents wrote to each other and journals her dad kept as a teenager. Sixteen-year-old Alex was a poetic, thoughtful, and brave young man who crossed continents to be with the girl he loved and tried in vain to escape demons that had haunted him since childhood. This is a person Jillian never knew, definitely no one who resembles her worthless drunk of a father. Jillian unravels the story of how her dad became who he was, all the while opening her own old wounds and coming to see her entire family in a new light.
Click to expand...
Just a warning, the book deals a lot with potentially triggering/touchy subjects: depression, suicide, PTSD, alcoholism, domestic violence, sectarianism in Northern Ireland. As you can imagine it's a very uplifting story. :tongue Okay, I swear it's not all bad. I'd call it bittersweet.

Anyway, if anyone's interested, send me a PM. Thank you! Oh, and I'm happy to swap if anyone also needs a beta.
 
Archie1989

Archie1989

Is Published!!!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 10, 2011
Messages
496
Reaction score
73
Location
Baahsten
Seconded! This sounds compelling to me. I write contemporary YA, I also read a ton of it. Bonus points? I despise my biological father. I'd be more than happy to beta-read for you :)
 
LJD

LJD

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 12, 2010
Messages
4,226
Reaction score
525
I don't read much YA contemporary and don't write YA.
But if you think it would be useful to have a beta who is a suicide survivor, let me know.

-Laura
 
Status
Not open for further replies.