September Girls

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In September Girls, Sam is spending the summer in a beach town filled with beautiful blond girls who all seem inexplicably attracted to him. But that’s not the only reason why he thinks the Girls are strange. They only wear flats because heels make their feet bleed. They never go swimming in the water. And they all want something from him.Sam finds himself in an unexpected summer romance when he falls for one of the Girls, DeeDee. But as they get closer, she pulls away without explanation. Sam knows that if he is going to win her back, he’ll have to learn the Girls’ secret.Bennett Madison, author of The Blonde of the Joke, brings a mix of lyrical writing, psychologically complex characters, and sardonic humor to this YA coming-of-age novel about first love…and mermaids.ReviewPRAISE FOR SEPTEMBER GIRLS:“Eerie and desperately romantic, September Girls is a myth measured out in summer days, game shows, French fries and women’s magazines. Bennett Madison makes a seedy beach town into the stuff of legends, and he has worked an intoxicating magic. Amazing.” (E. Lockhart, author of the National Book Award finalist The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks and The Boyfriend List )“Beneath the dreamy warmth and languor of beach days and summer romance, September Girls delivers an intricate story of identity and freedom, the ties and histories that thwart those things, and love. A truly original coming-of-age tale.” (Sara Zarr, author of How to Save a Life )“Reading this book is like holding your breath underwater—you won’t want to come up for air.” (Jenny Han, author of the New York Times bestselling The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy )“I came away enthralled by this transfixing story and overcome by Bennett Madison’s breathtaking talent as a writer. Gorgeously rendered and teeming with shocks and deep truths, September Girls is a daring book that reveals the boundless possibilities of YA fiction.” (Nova Ren Suma, author of Imaginary Girls and 17 & Gone )PRAISE FOR THE BLONDE OF THE JOKE:“Off-kilter humor, moody narration, and twisted psychology make this sardonic exploration of suburbia thrilling-like pocketing lip gloss and walking right out of the store.” (School Library Journal )“This wickedly funny novel has it all—style, depth, bite, and a punch line you won’t be able to forget.” (Sarah Mlynowski, author of Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) )“The Blonde of the Joke turns a dull suburban landscape into a mythical place, full of treasure, inner demons, and transformations. Bennett Madison is one of the best YA writers around and this is his sharpest book to date.” (Maureen Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of The Name of the Star )“A delightfully wicked book—a supersexy celebration of good girls gone bad, and a haunting ode to teenage rebellion.” (James St. James, author of Freak Show )“A ridiculous, riotous, tongue-in-cheek mad dash through the mall where everything is not as it seems and where the cheap jokes and the bounty grow like apples on trees.” (Kirkus Reviews )“You will fall in love with The Blonde of the Joke the moment you enter its mall-wandering, skater-boy loving, dark secret-hiding world. Poetic and punchy, sarcastic and true, I gobbled this up and was left wanting so much more.” (Sara Shepard, author of the New York Times bestselling Pretty Little Liars series )“Madison’s honest and darkly comic prose takes this mall-rat tale to mythical heights. The punchline is definitely bittersweet and will leave a good many readers anticipating Madison’s next book.” (Booklist )“Madison’s dreamlike prose imbues the most ordinary moments with cosmic significance. Readers will soak up every bit.” (Publishers Weekly ) About the AuthorBennett Madison learned everything he knows about shoplifting from working at the Gap, where his facility with a price gun earned him the esteemed title of Markdown Specialist, and he learned everything he knows about blondes from attending Sarah Lawrence College, where his four years of lackluster study failed to earn him a diploma. He has spent time as a phone psychic, a receptionist, and a layabout, and his greatest unfulfilled ambition is either to go on Survivor or to write X-Men comic books. He lives in New York City.