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About Two Winters by Lauren Emily Whalen
Title: Two Winters
Author: Lauren Emily Whalen
Genre: Young Adult, LGBTQ+ Contemporary Fiction
The winter of 1997 is a tragedy waiting to happen. Small-town life isn’t easy for seventeen-year-old, bisexual and closeted Paulina, especially when her best friend Mia becomes pregnant. A devout Catholic, Mia doesn’t want to tell her parents, see a doctor, or even tell the baby’s father, Paulina’s other best friend, Tesla. Meanwhile, Paulina’s secret relationship with volleyball star, Ani, is about to go public in the worst way. It all comes to a head one fateful night, and everything changes forever.
Fast forward to the winter of 2014, where Perdita, bi and proud in Chicago, is weeks away from turning seventeen. Her life is perfect–well, almost. She loves her two moms, but why do they refuse to tell her anything about her adoption? When Perdita meets Fenton, her handsome improv coach who’s taking a gap year before college, she discovers both a kindred soul and a willing accomplice in her search for the truth. Will Perdita find what she’s looking for? And if not, can time really heal all wounds?
TWO WINTERS is a contemporary queer YA retelling of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, about birth, death, Catholic school, improv comedy and the healing nature of time.
About Lauren Emily Whalen
Lauren Emily Whalen is the author of the YA novels SATELLITE (2017) and TWO WINTERS (2021), and the YA nonfiction book DEALING WITH DRAMA (2020). Her short story “I Saw Her Again” appears in LINK BY LINK: A SPIRITED HOLIDAY ANTHOLOGY (2020). Lauren is also an actor and very amateur aerialist, and lives in Chicago with her cat, Versace, and an apartment full of books. Follow her on Instagram at laurenemilywrites.
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