The Year I Stopped Trying

Booksmart meets The Perks of Being a Wallflower in this novel of overachieving, existential crises, growing up, and coming out, from the author of Girl Crushed and Never Have I Ever.

Mary is having an existential crisis. She''s a good student, she never gets in trouble, and she is searching for the meaning of life. She always thought she''d find it in a perfect score on the SATs. But by junior year, Mary isn''t so sure anymore.

The first time, it''s an accident. She forgets to do a history assignment. She even crosses "history essay" off in her pristine planner. And then: Nothing happens. She doesn''t burst into flames, the world doesn''t end, the teacher doesn''t even pull her aside after class.

So she asks herself: Why am I trying so hard? What if I stop?

With her signature wit and heaps of dark humor, Katie Heaney delivers a stunning YA novel the sprints full-force into the big questions our teen years beg--and adeptly unravels their web.