Blind Faith

Liz tries to puzzle out her own beliefs after the death of her grandmother and her mother's sudden interest in Spiritualism. A new neighbor, dealing with his own trauma, complicates the picture.

"Wittlinger creates a full-bodied book with more subplots than summarized here. In addition to afterlife communication, she tackles unwieldy family dynamics, difficult friendships, and artistic courage, managing to interweave everything effectively. Liz works her way through jumbles of emotional surges just as teenage girls will--with intensity and doubt constantly tempering each other. She gradually learns to balance her need for self-expression with a compassionate tolerance for the emotional turbulence of her loved ones. The novel is highly recommended for all teen collections." --5Q VOYA

"Once again, Wittlinger brings readers right into a teen's roiling emotional life with sensitive, skillful descriptions, written in Liz's voice, of how feelings register.... (T)he precisely observed, palpable moments and provocatiave questions about faith make a memorable story." --Booklist

Keystone State Reading Association Book Award, 2008
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults list, 2007
New York Public Library's Best Books for the Teen Age list, 2007
Kansas NEA Reading Circle list, 2007
Junior Library Guild selection, 2006
Teenreads.com Best Books of 2006 list
nominated: 2006 Cybils (Children's & YA Bloggers Literary Awards)

Publishing Information

Simon and Schuster, 2006