How do you forgive yourselfâand the people you loveâwhen a shocking discovery leads to a huge mistake? Acclaimed author Christine Heppermannâs novel-in-verse tackles betrayals and redemption among family and friends with her signature unflinchingâbut always sharply wittyâstyle. For fans of Elana K. Arnold, Laura Ruby, and A. S. King.
When Jorie wakes up in the loft bed of a college boy she doesnât recognize, sheâs instantly filled with regret. What happened the night before? What led her to this place? Was it her fatherâs infidelity? Her motherâs seemingly weak acceptance? Her recent breakup with Ian, the boy who loved her art and supported her through the hardest time of her life?
As Jorie tries to reconstruct the events that led her to this point, free verse poems lead the reader through the current morning, as well as flashbacks to her relationships with her parents, her friends, her boyfriend, and the previous night.
With Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty and Ask Me How I Got Here, Christine Heppermann established herself as a vital voice in thought-provoking and powerful feminist writing for teens. Her poetry is surprising, wry, emotional, and searing. What Goes Up is by turns a scorchingly funny and a deeply emotional story that asks whether itâs possible to support and love someone despite the risk of being hurt. Readers of Laura Ruby, E. K. Johnston, Elana K. Arnold, and Laurie Halse Anderson will find a complicated heroine they wonât soon forget.