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Drowning Instinct

  • Interest Level: Grade 9 - Grade 12
  • Reading Level: Grade 7

There are stories where the girl gets her prince, and they live happily ever after. (This is not one of those stories.)

Jenna Lord’s first sixteen years were not exactly a fairy tale. Her father is a controlling psycho and her mother is a drunk. She used to count on her older brother—until he shipped off to Iraq. And then, of course, there was the time she almost died in a fire.

There are stories where the monster gets the girl, and everyone cries for his innocent victim. (This is not one of those stories either.)

Mitch Anderson is many things: A dedicated teacher and coach. A caring husband. A man with a certain…magnetism.

And there are stories where it’s hard to be sure who’s a prince and who’s a monster, who is a victim and who should live happily ever after. (These are the most interesting stories of all.)

Drowning Instinct is a novel of pain, deception, desperation, and love against the odds—and the rules.

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978-1-4677-6801-6
 $23.99
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Interest Level Grade 9 - Grade 12
Reading Level Grade 7
Genre Young Adult
Copyright 2012
Publisher Lerner Publishing Group
Imprint Carolrhoda Lab ®
Language English
Number of Pages 352
Publication Date 2014-08-01
Reading Counts! Level 5.4
Text Type Fiction
BISACS YAF011000, YAF058060, YAF058040
Dewey [Fic]
Dimensions 5.25 x 7.5
Lexile 710
ATOS Reading Level 4.7
Accelerated Reader® Quiz 148966
Accelerated Reader® Points 12.0
Features Author/Illustrator biography and Reviewed

Author: Ilsa J. Bick

Ilsa J. Bick is a child psychiatrist, as well as a film scholar, surgeon wannabe, former Air Force major, and an award-winning, best-selling author of short stories, e-books, and novels. She has written extensively in the Star Trek, Battletech, Mechwarrior: Dark Age, and Shadowrun universes. Her original stories have been featured in numerous anthologies, magazines and online venues. Ilsa’s YA paranormal, Draw the Dark, was also a semifinalist for the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (as Stalag Winter). Ilsa currently lives with her family and other furry creatures in rural Wisconsin and across the street from the local Hebrew cemetery. One thing she loves about the neighbors: They’re very quiet and come around for sugar only once in a blue moon.

Reviews

Library Media Connection

Reviewed on 1 May 2012

“A testament to the author’s writing skill is the unanswered question: Was Anderson genuinely in love with Jenna or was he a sexual predator?” —Library Media Connection

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Reviewed on 1 May 2012

“A compelling study of brokenness that persists across generations and of salvation by unconventional means.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

School Library Journal

Reviewed on 1 March 2012

“The novel begins slowly but quickly builds steam—and controversy—with unexpected turns and revelations. Neither the victims nor the predators are stereotypical and that ambiguity, while unsettling, is sure to spark discussion.” —School Library Journal

Booklist

Reviewed on 15 February 2012

“Bick, a child psychiatrist, writes about dysfunction with a professional’s insight, and she goes to great pains to create believable characters…and dramatizes dysfunction and disorder in ways that will attract readers and offer opportunities for classroom discussion.” —Booklist