The Last Words We Said - Hardcover

Scheier, Leah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1534469397 ISBN 13: 9781534469396

Verlag: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2021

Inhaltsangabe

A Sydney Taylor Young Adult Honor Book

All the Bright Places meets If I Stay in this heart-wrenching, romantic novel about a tight-knit group of teen girls coping with a devastating loss and what happens when your best friend is also your first love…and your first heartbreak.

Nine months ago, Danny disappeared. His closest friends, Ellie, Rae, and Deenie, are all dealing with the loss differently. Rae’s pouring herself into rage-baking. Deenie’s deepening her commitment to Orthodox Judaism. And Ellie—who was Danny’s girlfriend and closest friend—is the only one who doesn’t believe he’s dead.

Because she still sees him.

In chapters that alternate between past and present, the story of Ellie and Danny unspools—from their serendipitous meeting to Danny’s effortless absorption into the girls’ friend group to Danny and Ellie falling for each other. In the past, they were the perfect couple…until it all went wrong. In the present, Ellie’s looking for answers.

She, Rae, and Deenie all have secrets, and they each hold a clue about the night Danny disappeared. Can the friends come together to uncover the truth about Danny? Or will tragedy drive them apart for good?

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Leah Scheier was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. As a child, she was inspired by her favorite authors—Arthur Conan Doyle, Lloyd Alexander, and C.S. Lewis—to dream up tales of adventure and romance. Now grown up with three daughters of her own, Leah works as a pediatrician and continues to create new stories.

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Chapter 1 Chapter 1


“So basically we’ve narrowed our choices for movie night to PAW Patrol or a National Geographic show about gorillas?”

Rae is trying to keep the irritated judgment out of her voice and failing—again. She and I had agreed to treat Deenie’s new convictions with respect, but recently our best friend’s spiritual growth had begun to interfere with pretty much everything fun. Parties. Concerts. Even ice cream.

But Ben & Jerry’s is totally kosher! I’d argued when she gave it up last month. Your father eats it—and he’s a rabbi!

Deenie had ducked her head contritely as she always did when forced to assert herself on matters of religion. I’m sorry, she’d murmured into her lap. You guys can totally go ahead. I’ll just drink a soda. She hated this part, the explanations why she couldn’t eat something, or wear open-toed sandals in the summer, or swim if there were boys within a ten-mile radius of the pool. She hated being different, especially when her choices affected Rae and me.

Today, though, Deenie doesn’t seem to mind the argument. “You know I’m right about this one,” she says softly. “They’ve done studies about this. Watching that stuff changes how you think.”

“What stuff?” Rae challenges. “Movies with a plot?”

Deenie sighs and plucks at her long black braid. “Movies that exploit women. That portray them as objects.” Her face flushes. “You know what I mean.”

Rae rolls her eyes. “Right. Then I guess the documentary is out too. I hear one of the gorillas flashes a tit at the end.”

“All right, stop it, Rae,” I say. “We don’t have to watch a movie. Why don’t we make something instead? I think we have brownie mix and that vegan ice cream Deenie can eat. I’d love a brownie hot fudge sundae.”

Rae shrugs and agrees with a reluctant smile.

“I’ve been taking a crocheting class,” Deenie remarks as we head to the kitchen. “I can show you guys how to embroider designs into a kippah if you want.”

“I’ll pass,” Rae replies. “Baking is one thing, but I’m not trying to be a seventeen-year-old grandmother. Besides, who are you making kippahs for? You don’t speak to boys anymore.”

“I speak to them,” Deenie protests.

“And none of the boys I’d date would wear a kippah anyway.” Rae winks at us. “At least, not after I’m done with them.” She knocks over the box I’ve placed on the counter. “Come on, what is this crap? Why would you use a mix when you can make real brownies?” She nudges me with her butt. “Move aside. I’ve got this.”

Deenie and I exchange a smile. We both knew this would happen. You wouldn’t know it to look at her, but Rae has a serious baking obsession. She’s stick thin, with deep-maroon hair—half spiky, half buzzed—and a collection of colorful helix ear piercings. But once she’s in the kitchen, her shiny RESIST bracelets come off and her battered oven mitts become her badge of honor. Rae’s rosemary macarons make our local bakery’s taste like sugar paper in comparison. My dad once rebooked a flight when I told him she was making her famous chocolate lava cakes that evening. Seriously. They’re that good.

Sometimes I wonder if her pastries are the only reason my parents have put off having “the talk” with me about my wayward friend.

“The talk” for religious Jewish parents is a little different from the “facts of life” that most adolescents get. We get a modified version of that, too, but there’s a special edition for the religious Jewish teen. It usually concerns the friend that has gone off the derech, or strayed from the “straight and narrow” path of our religion.

Only Rae didn’t just go off the derech—she took a blowtorch to it.

Rae’s parents are much like mine: They all went to the same Jewish high school, they keep a Sabbath-observant, kosher home. They attend the same synagogue and contribute to the same charities. Our families fit into the category of the “modern” Orthodox Jew. In our parents’ view, anyone to the left of us is probably a little lost and still searching for God, and anyone to the right is slightly medieval and possibly a fanatic. Basically, we follow all the rules but also enjoy sampling from the secular (read: goyish) world. We go to the movies, keep up with the Kardashians, and follow the latest fashions, with modifications for modesty, of course.

I don’t think the non-Jewish world realizes how many flavors of religiosity there are within our people. The term “Orthodox” immediately conjures up an image of swaying bearded men in fur shtreimels and curly sidelocks. But my community is as different from theirs as we are from the Amish. The ultra-Orthodox shun the secular world completely for fear that outsiders will burst their insular bubble. They dress to stand apart while we dress to fit in. If it weren’t for the small knit kippah on my dad’s head or the loose skirt covering my mother’s workout leggings, no one would even guess that we were Jewish.

Deenie’s long dress tangles around her legs as she climbs down from the counter, clutching a bag of marshmallows. She’s singing softly to herself, like she always does when she’s distracted, but she stops abruptly when my dad sidles into the kitchen.

“What are we baking today?” he asks with an eager smile.

“Hey, Dr. Merlis.” Rae hands him a spoon covered in batter. “I’m making brownies topped with marshmallow and peanut butter crunch.”

“Elisheva, you are a genius,” he says. He still calls her that, even though she dumped her Hebrew name when she started dumping everything else. It used to drive me crazy how wrong “Elisheva Temima” was for her. (It literally means “God’s oath of innocence.”) For me it was a relief when Elisheva declared that she wanted us to call her Rae. She insisted that “Rae” sounded celestial and limitless.

“Wait until you taste the fudge that’s going on top,” she says with a grin.

“I hold you personally responsible for my cholesterol, young lady,” Dad replies. “And for this,” he says, grabbing the chunk of gut hanging over his belt.

Rae shrugs and reaches for the vanilla. “Life’s too short to be on a diet.”

That’s how Rae relates to most things: life’s too short to date one guy at a time, to obey a midnight curfew, to never eat ham.

“I guess.” Dad gives me an uneasy look. “Still, all things in moderation, right?”

Rae doesn’t answer, because I’m pretty sure that’s the opposite of her life mantra. But she’d never contradict my parents. Not to their faces, anyway.

“Hey, Dad, why don’t I call you when the brownies are ready?” I hint.

He blinks and shoots me a bashful smile. “Right. No problem. Message received.” He turns to Rae and gives her a thumbs-up. “Keep up the good...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1534469397
• ISBN 13: 9781534469396
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 320
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Simon and Schuster Netherlands BV, GPSR Europäische Union; info@simonandschuster.nl; ; Herculesplein 96; AA Utrecht; 3584; Niederlande