You Know I'm No Good (Hardcover)
Staff Reviews
Mia Dempsey has been going downhill since Freshman year: bad grades, drinking, sleeping around. When she is sent to Red Oak Academy she meets Vera who asks her “are you bad, or just not good?”. That question percolates through the rest of the book as Mia works through the situations that brought her to Red Oak and the reader realizes that many of the girls would not be there if they were boys. Finally a therapist asks Mia about herself, not her dead mother, bringing to light the trigger moment for her behavior.
A heart-wrenching story of girls at a therapeutic boarding school - their bickering, their painful pasts, and their attempts to help and support each other. I particularly loved that Mia’s situation was not simplistic. There was clearly a combination of circumstances and events that made her particularly vulnerable to tumbling downhill.
— CarolineDescription
This razor-sharp novel from Printz Honor winner and Morris Award finalist Jessie Ann Foley will appeal to fans of Wilder Girls and The Grace Year.
Mia is officially a Troubled Teen™— she gets bad grades, drinks too much, and has probably gone too far with too many guys.
But she doesn’t realize how out of control she seems until she is taken from her home in the middle of the night and sent away to Red Oak Academy, a therapeutic girls' boarding school in the middle of nowhere.
While there, Mia is forced to confront her painful past at the same time she questions why she's at Red Oak. If she were a boy, would her behavior be considered wild enough to get sent away? But what happens when circumstances outside of her control compel Mia to make herself vulnerable enough to be truly seen?
Challenging and thought-provoking, this stunning contemporary YA novel examines the ways society is stacked against teen girls and what one young woman will do to even the odds.
* A Chicago Public Library Best Teen Fiction Selection * A Banks Street Best Children's Book of the Year *
About the Author
Jessie Ann Foley is the Printz Honor–winning author of the YA novels The Carnival at Bray, Neighborhood Girls, Sorry for Your Loss, and You Know I’m No Good. For middle graders, she has written Breda's Island and the forthcoming Severe and Unusual Weather. Her work has been named to best-of lists by Kirkus Reviews, ALA Booklist, YALSA, Entertainment Weekly, and many other outlets and has been featured on school and library recommended reading lists all across the United States. Jessie lives with her family in Chicago, where she was born and raised. You can visit her online at jessieannfoley.com.
Praise For…
"When I love a book, I just inhale, absorb, consume. This book is so good and beautiful and true." — Carrie Mesrobian, William C. Morris Award Finalist
"An instant winner, reminiscent of the classic Speak, with a caustically funny and searching teen protagonist." — School Library Journal
“This is a thoughtful examination of sexual assault, trauma, and misogyny. . . Remarkably moving.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Arresting dialogue and tender moments showcase the girls’ distinct and lively personalities while offering striking examples of the way society ignores teenage girls’ experiences.” — Publishers Weekly
“For teens—especially girls—still finding that place between vulnerable and armored, this will be a balm.” — Booklist
"A captivating portrait of a girl at war with herself, this novel grapples with complex social issues in the guise of one young person’s trauma . . . Recommend this to readers who want a more contemporary, inclusive alternative to Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books