Product Description An unforgettable look at romance and friendship through the eyes of a teen girl who's ready to grow up, but maybe not as ready as she thinks Fifteen-year-old JL Markham's life used to be filled with carnival nights and hot summer days spent giggling with her forever-best-friend Aubrey about their families and boys. Together, they were unstoppable. But they aren't the friends they once were. With JL's father gone on long-term business and her mother suffering from dissociative disorder, JL takes solace in the tropical butterflies she raises, and in her new, older boyfriend, Max Gordon. Max may be rough on the outside, but he has the soul of a poet (something Aubrey will never understand). Only, Max is about to graduate, and he's going to hit the road--with or without JL. JL can't bear being left behind again. But what if devoting herself to Max not only means betraying her parents, but permanently losing the love of her best friend? What becomes of loyalty when no one is loyal to you? Gae Polisner's Jack Kerouac is Dead to Me is a story about the fragility of female friendship, of falling in love and wondering if you are ready for more, and of the glimmers of hope we find by taking stock in ourselves. Review "Jack Kerouac Is Dead to Me is an absolutely real, raw, and emotional read, and it's a book that touched my heart with every page."-- "Katie McGarry, critically acclaimed author of Only a Breath Apart" "An achingly fierce exploration of the way the world wounds us and heals us."-- "Jeff Zentner, William C. Morris Award-winning author of The Serpent King and Goodbye Days, on In Sight of Stars" "An intense, sometimes graphic, totally heartbreaking portrait of a character who will keep pages turning."-- "Booklist (starred review) on In Sight of Stars" "Anything written by Gae Polisner is a true treat. She commands her craft in a way very few do, an