The Tragedy Paper

Name: The Tragedy Paper
ISBN: 9780307930484

Elizabeth Laban

Random House Children's Books · Print & ebook · February 11, 2014

A Young Adult pick for readers exploring The Tragedy Paper.

Contemporary YA Romance Dating & Sex for Teens Boarding School YA romance

realistic friendship contemporary

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Who it’s for: A dual-viewpoint school story pairs first love and heartbreak with the weight of secrets.
Themes: First love and heartbreak, Secrecy, Social status
Genres: Contemporary YA Romance, Boarding School YA, Dating & Sex for Teens

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About this book

Perfect for fans of Thirteen Reasons Why and Looking for Alaska, Jennifer Weiner, #1 New York Times bestselling author, calls Elizabeth LaBan’s The Tragedy Paper “a beguiling and beautifully written tale of first love and heartbreak.” It follows the story of Tim Macbeth, a seventeen-year-old albino and a recent transfer to the prestigious Irving School, where the motto is “Enter here to be and find a friend.”

A friend is the last thing Tim expects or wants—he just hopes to get through his senior year unnoticed. Yet, despite his efforts to blend into the background, he finds himself falling for the quintessential “It” girl, Vanessa Sheller, girlfriend of Irving’s most popular boy. To Tim's surprise, Vanessa is into him, too, but she can kiss her social status goodbye if anyone ever finds out. Tim and Vanessa begin a clandestine romance, but looming over them is the Tragedy Paper, Irving’s version of a senior year thesis, assigned by the school’s least forgiving teacher. Jumping between viewpoints of the love-struck Tim and Duncan, a current senior about to uncover the truth of Tim and Vanessa, The Tragedy Paper is a compelling tale of forbidden love and the lengths people will go to keep their secrets.

Secrets and First Love

A dual-viewpoint school story pairs first love and heartbreak with the weight of secrets.

Come here for

A clandestine romance tangled in school social status
Two viewpoints that reveal a story from different angles

Expect

A realistic teen setting and emotionally charged relationships
Secrets, friendship, and heartbreak without a tidy gloss

Where it sits

Boarding School YA	94%
Contemporary YA Romance	57%
Dating & Sex for Teens	32%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

Contemporary YA Romance
Boarding School YA
Friendship for Teens

Authors: Elizabeth Laban
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: February 11, 2014
Format: Print & ebook
Theme: First love and heartbreak · Secrecy · Social status
Reading lane: Contemporary YA Romance