The Walls Around Us Lib/E

"Ori's dead because of what happened out behind the theater, in the tunnel made out of trees. She's dead because she got sent to that place upstate, locked up with those monsters. And she got sent there because of me." "The Walls Around Us" is a ghostly story of suspense told in two voices--one still living and one long dead. On the outside, there's Violet, an eighteen-year-old dancer days away from the life of her dreams when something threatens to expose the shocking truth of her achievement. On the inside, within the walls of a girls' juvenile detention center, there's Amber, locked up for so long she can't imagine freedom. Tying these two worlds together is Orianna, who holds the key to unlocking all the girls' darkest mysteries. We hear Amber's story and Violet's, and through them Orianna's, first from one angle, then from another, until gradually we begin to get the whole picture--which is not necessarily the one that either Amber or Violet wants us to see. Nova Ren Suma tells a supernatural tale of guilt and innocence, and what happens when one is mistaken for the other.

About the Author :
Nova Ren Suma is the author of The Walls around Us as well as the YA novels Imaginary Girls and 17 & Gone, which were both named 2014 Outstanding Books for the College Bound by YALSA. She has a BA in writing photography from Antioch College and an MFA in fiction from Columbia University and has been awarded fiction fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, and the Millay Colony and an NEA fellowship for a residency at the Hambidge Center. She worked for years behind the scenes in publishing, at places such as HarperCollins, Penguin, Marvel Comics, and RAW Books, and now she teaches writing workshops. She is from various small towns across the Hudson Valley and lives and writes in New York City. Georgia King completed a BA in drama at ECU before moving to New York and attending the Michael Howard Studios. Georgia established Little y Theatre Company with Mischa Ipp and Alexis Davis and performed in their devised show Scent Tales (Blue Room Theatre Best Production winner) and Slut as part of the Blue Room Theatre season. In 2011 Georgia was nominated for Best Newcomer and Best Supporting Actress at the Equity Guild Awards and Best Individual Performance at the annual Blue Room Theatre Awards. Sandy Rustin is an actress and playwright. Her sketch comedy musical about parenthood, Rated P (For Parenthood), opened to critical acclaim off Broadway at the Westside Theatre in 2012; her one-act comedy, Fireworks, recently won the seventh annual Nor'Eastern Playwriting competition; and her newest full length play, The Cottage, was selected as part of Midtown Direct Rep's 2013 Theatre in the Loft Reading Series. A graduate of Northwestern University, she currently lives in New York City.

Review :

"[A] haunting and evocative tale...This is no mere thriller. The prose is mesmerizing, laced with visceral, gorgeous figurative language...and the eerie mood she evokes is unnervingly potent."

"[A] psychological thriller...A fabulous, frightening read."

"[A] supernatural page-turner...a demonstration of Suma's fantastic writing."

"[This] intricately plotted psychological horror story...subtly explores the balance of power between the talented and the mediocre, the rich and the poor, the brave and the cowardly--and the unpleasant truths that are released when these scales are upset."

"The compelling narrative...[written with] an explosive finale with a supernatural twist that results in a satisfying resolution to the struggle between the guilt and evil depicted here."

"The wholly realistic view of adolescents meeting the criminal justice system is touched at first with the slimmest twist of an otherworldly creepiness, escalating finally to the truly hair-raising and macabre. Eerie, painful, and beautifully spine-chilling."