A roar goes up and at first I’m confused. Is someone cheering for us? And then I realize what it must be—the election returns are beginning to come in.
In a few moments, we’ll have to go our separate ways and wait to see how this all turns out. But after that? Who knows? Like I said, I don’t have all the answers. In fact, I have hardly any.
But as the snow falls more steadily and more cheers go up, I kiss her again, harder, a promise for the future. And as she kisses me back just as hard, I can’t help but be filled with hope.
It’s starting.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to Pamela Harty, for friendship above all else, and to everyone at The Knight Agency.
Thanks to Laura Whitaker, for stepping in with precision and verve, and to Sarah Shumway and everyone at Bloomsbury.
Thanks to the Friday Night Irregulars: Lauren Catherine, Bob Gulian, Andrea Schicke Hirsch, and Greg Logsted (who doubles as my husband).
Thanks to Backspace for being a terrific site for writers and BookBalloon for being a terrific site for readers.
Thanks to booksellers and librarians for years of support, and Twitter and FB for years of diversion.
Thanks to readers everywhere, my favorite of whom is my daughter, Jackie, who’s all-around terrific even when she’s not reading.
The line
Fool Me Twice
by Mandy Hubbard
Wish You Were Italian
by Kristin Rae
Not in the Script
by Amy Finnegan
Wild Hearts
by Jessica Burkhart
Red Girl, Blue Boy
by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Everything but the Truth
by Mandy Hubbard
Just Like the Movies
by Kelly Fiore
(coming soon)
What You Always Wanted
by Kristin Rae
(coming soon)
Copyright © 2015 by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce, or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
First published in the United States of America in October 2015
by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
www.bloomsbury.com
E-book edition published in October 2015
Bloomsbury is a registered trademark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 1385 Broadway, New York, New York 10018
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Baratz-Logsted, Lauren.
Red girl, blue boy : an If only novel / by Lauren Baratz-Logsted.
pages cm
Summary: As Katie’s father and Drew’s mother vie for the presidency, the sixteen-year-olds start—and end—a romance, but the press finds out, both candidates’ poll numbers rise, and the two are asked to flaunt their former relationship.
ISBN 978-1-61963-685-9 (paperback) • ISBN 978-1-61963-500-5 (hardcover)
[1. Politics, Practical—Fiction. 2. Presidential candidates—Fiction. 3. Dating (Social customs)—Fiction. 4. Celebrities—Fiction. 5. Family life—Connecticut—Fiction. 6. Connecticut—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.B22966Red 2015 [Fic]—dc23 2014032448
ISBN 978-1-61963-501-2 (e-book)
Red Girl, Blue Boy: An If Only novel (If Only . . .) Page 21
