LIFE BY COMMITTEE
Tabitha might be the only girl in the history of the world who actually gets less popular when she gets hot. But her so-called friends say she’s changed, and they’ve dropped her flat.
Now Tab has no one to tell about the best and worst thing that has ever happened to her: Joe, who spills his most intimate secrets to her in their nightly online chats. Joe, whose touch is so electric, it makes Tab wonder if she could survive an actual kiss. Joe, who has Tabitha brimming with the restless energy of falling in love. Joe, who is someone else’s boyfriend.
Just when Tab is afraid she’ll burst from keeping the secret of Joe inside, she finds Life by Committee. The rules of LBC are simple: tell a secret, receive an assignment. Complete the assignment to keep your secret safe. Tab likes it that the assignments push her to her limits, empowering her to live boldly and go further than she’d ever go on her own.
But in the name of truth and bravery, how far is too far to go?
REVIEWS
“An authentic, heartfelt read about the power of truth and the beauty of self-discovery.”
– Sarah Ockler, author of #scandal and Twenty Boy Summer
“Life by Committee is a fun, smart, and moving read with every delicious ingredient—romance, secrets, and unexpected twists. Assignment: Read this one.”
– Deb Caletti, National Book Award Finalist and author of Honey, Baby, Sweetheart and The Last Forever
“(Not so) Secret: I immediately fell in love with Corey Ann Haydu’s wonderful, fresh story about truth, love, and bravery. Your assignment: Read Life by Committee immediately!”
– Elizabeth Eulberg, author of The Lonely Hearts Club and Better off Friends
“This book is brilliant, thrumming with honesty and surprising truths.”
– Terra Elan McVoy, author of Pure and The Summer of Firsts and Lasts
PRAISE
*An American Book Association Summer 2014 Indie Next Selection
“Haydu captures in deft strokes the teenaged girl who’s being slut-shamed mostly for becoming sexually attractive, and who struggles to negotiate her resentment at the unfair characterization (Tabitha’s actually a virgin whose main joy is reading old books) with her interest in male attention. Her engagement with the website is utterly plausible for a girl with her love of a good story, and the book effectively sets up both the site’s appeal and its manipulative nature. Ultimately, though, the book’s target is secrets and their power, and it understands both the thrilling ability to have something to yourself and the way we hide and disguise our realities. This would therefore make an excellent partner with an exploration of the PostSecret project, as well as a thoughtful standalone with much insight about perception and truth.”
– The Bulletin
“There’s much to enjoy in Haydu’s (OCD Love Story, rev. 9/13) second novel: a quirky cast of secret-hiding secondary characters including Tab’s sharp, opinionated not-yet-out lesbian best friend; Tab’s café-owning early-thirties parents, ultra-hip while still supportive in the ways they need to be; and the depiction of her small-town-Vermont “crunchy” private school. Tab’s narrative voice is arresting, even as readers wonder at her poor decisions and cringe as creepy, cult-y LBC’s influence overrides her sense of self—and her conscience.”
– HornBook
“Fans of Haydu’s OCD Love Story will once again bear witness to a female protagonist hurling herself headfirst into a social train wreck of her own creation….Looking for a book to read and discuss? This is it.”
– Kirkus
“Haydu captures the wild emotions of adolescence: the surging hormones, the power of getting people to pay attention because of your body, and the confusion over how that makes you feel….Readers who are avidly involved in social media communities will relate to the thrill of confessing secrets to strangers, rather than friends and family.”
– School Library Journal
“Haydu gets at the push-pull between wanting to keep and to divulge secrets, as well as the way that anatomy can feel like destiny.”
– Publisher’s Weekly