We meet fifteen-year-old Aria Jones on the day she moves to a new town with her mother, their big, cross-country move taking them as far away as possible from their old life and the painful memories that still haunt them both. This novel is an important one-every bit as candid as it is touching-and it is a read-in-one-sitting kind of story that you won’t be able to stop thinking about. Tucker captures some of the most troubling issues facing teenagers on the brink of adulthood today with a compelling tale of regret, redemption, and new beginnings that grabs the reader from the very first page. With a narrative conveyed entirely through a fifteen-year-old’s voice, K.A. Tucker’s foray into Young Adult fiction is nothing less than extraordinary, delivering a coming-of-age story that is heartfelt, relevant, and incredibly thought-provoking. What a truly powerful book this was! Best known for the varied distinctiveness of her stories, K.A. It is her loyalty to Cassie and her growing crush on Emmett that leads her to make a risky move, one that earns her a vindictive enemy who is determined to splinter her happy new world. If he didn’t already have a girlfriend, maybe it would.īut Aria soon finds herself in a dicey moral predicament that could derail her attempt at a fresh start and make her a pariah in her school. And Cassie’s older brother, Emmett-a popular Junior A hockey player with a bright future-well … Aria wishes that friendship could lead to something more. Sure, Cassie Hartford may be the epitome of social awkwardness thanks to her autism, but she also offers an innocent and sincere friendship that Aria learns to appreciate. With the Hartford family living next door, it seems she will succeed. In the bustling town of Eastmonte, she can become someone else. But she doesn’t mind, because it means she can leave her painful regrets behind. New postal code, new last name, new rules. Almost sixteen-year-old Aria Jones is starting over.

An Innocent Crush by Cassi Hart