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52nd out of 616 books
—
602 voters
You Know Where to Find Me
by
Rachel Cohn
Jamal said only, "Laura..." And I knew, just knew by the rip through my gut and the instant convulsion in my heart, knew by Jamal's uncharacteristically unsmiling face. I knew because Laura always did what I wished I could do.
First cousins Laura and Miles grew up like sisters. Miles thought of Laura as the golden one -- smart, beautiful, rich, and popular -- while Miles
...moreHardcover, 208 pages
Published
March 4th 2008
by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
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Nov 07, 2012
Jennifer Wardrip
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
trt-posted-reviews,
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Reviewed by Dianna Geers for TeensReadToo.com
Laura and Miles grew up together. They were cousins who lived so close that Miles could sneak out of her room on scary, stormy nights and escape to the safety of Laura's bed. They spent hours in their tree house and hiding out in their favorite bookstore. As little girls became adolescents, though, being related and living near each other didn't guarantee closeness.
Miles liked to eat and drink. And smoke. Her body put on weight, her poorly-dyed hair...more
Laura and Miles grew up together. They were cousins who lived so close that Miles could sneak out of her room on scary, stormy nights and escape to the safety of Laura's bed. They spent hours in their tree house and hiding out in their favorite bookstore. As little girls became adolescents, though, being related and living near each other didn't guarantee closeness.
Miles liked to eat and drink. And smoke. Her body put on weight, her poorly-dyed hair...more
OH MY GOD A FAT GIRL BOOK WHERE SHE IS NOT SKINNY AT THE END HALLE-FREAKING-LULLAH.
Rachel Cohn sort of irritates me as a writer without David Levithan to even her out. I don't know if it's genuinely her style or that she's really into Francesca Lia Block or something, but, man, Rachel, sometimes all the froufy language and switches in tenses and made-up stories just sort of irritate me.
In the plus column, I really loved the character of Jim. Of course in my head he was played by Tim Gunn.
Rachel Cohn sort of irritates me as a writer without David Levithan to even her out. I don't know if it's genuinely her style or that she's really into Francesca Lia Block or something, but, man, Rachel, sometimes all the froufy language and switches in tenses and made-up stories just sort of irritate me.
In the plus column, I really loved the character of Jim. Of course in my head he was played by Tim Gunn.
Some nice writing, and I wanted to like it a lot more than I did, but:
1. When you have a character this angry and bitter, it's a real challenge to make the reader like them or even care much. Unfortunately, this book doesn't rise to the challenge.
2. I finally gave up after about the fifth lecture about DC Home Rule. Okay. I get it. I know this is an issue that the character cares a lot about, but it just gets preachy. see (1) above.
1. When you have a character this angry and bitter, it's a real challenge to make the reader like them or even care much. Unfortunately, this book doesn't rise to the challenge.
2. I finally gave up after about the fifth lecture about DC Home Rule. Okay. I get it. I know this is an issue that the character cares a lot about, but it just gets preachy. see (1) above.
You Know Where To Find Me was an interesting book. It was interesting enough to keep me reading it but it didn't completely engross me. It's a hard book to talk about because I'm not entirely sure about it.
Sure, it was quite interesting, from the start I was wanting to know where it was going. But as I got further and further into it, it just became really predictable and kind of cliché.
The characters didn't really capture me emotionally either. I felt that when the mood was supposed to be sad a...more
Sure, it was quite interesting, from the start I was wanting to know where it was going. But as I got further and further into it, it just became really predictable and kind of cliché.
The characters didn't really capture me emotionally either. I felt that when the mood was supposed to be sad a...more
You can almost always find our heroine, Miles, popping pills, getting high, or smoking. She's a drug addict who is content--or content enough at least--living a very wasted life. She plans on dropping out of high school once she turns eighteen. Even the suicide of her cousin, Laura, (drug overdose) fails to get through to her. Life is meaningless, right? It doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter. Miles is overweight, unhappy, and seeking release through drugs. She doesn't necessarily want to die...more
Miles and Laura grew up more like sisters than the cousins they really are and they were inseparable until about high school age. Miles feels like Laura is far too perfect with her thin frame, happy (outward) demeanor, and popularity while Miles is a self-proclaimed chubby girl who is both goth and unfriendly. When Laura suddenly kills herself, Miles is hurt and confused by Laura not inviting her along for the ride. She must also deal with her drug addictions and her beliefs that no one truly ca...more
I enjoyed reading this book, and it did make for a fast-paced read, but I can't say it was fully developed or great.
If I were to compare the character development, plot and storyline of this novel to other Rachel Cohn novels, then I would say she fell short writing this one. But if I were to compare the themes depicted in this novel to her other novels, then I'd have to say there were some very interesting, profound and serious themes that needed to be accentuated or even played up.
Miles is not...more
If I were to compare the character development, plot and storyline of this novel to other Rachel Cohn novels, then I would say she fell short writing this one. But if I were to compare the themes depicted in this novel to her other novels, then I'd have to say there were some very interesting, profound and serious themes that needed to be accentuated or even played up.
Miles is not...more
Washington, D.C. cousins Miles and Laura grow up together. Laura's adopted dad Jim is independently wealthy. She and Jim live on a Georgetown estate. Miles and her mother - who is the sister of Jim's now-dead lover - live in a carriage house at the back of the property.
The cousins look so much alike, with their white-blond hair and rosy complexions, that they are often thought to be sisters. They do everything together except attend the same school. As they grow up Laura has a full social calend...more
The cousins look so much alike, with their white-blond hair and rosy complexions, that they are often thought to be sisters. They do everything together except attend the same school. As they grow up Laura has a full social calend...more
The world of goth chick Miles and graceful beauty Laura, cousins who identify more as sisters, is a preppy, urban, funkadelic paradise... and then something gets twisted. The girls' new life of politics and pills is a hard one to take, and at eighteen, Laura gives up, leaving it and Miles behind.
Though Miles clearly misses Laura in a way no amount of Oxy, percs or weed can cure, it takes her almost the entire book to figure this out. Though she seeks comfort in affable friend Jamal, Miles conti...more
Though Miles clearly misses Laura in a way no amount of Oxy, percs or weed can cure, it takes her almost the entire book to figure this out. Though she seeks comfort in affable friend Jamal, Miles conti...more
May 11, 2011
Christine
added it
Superficially different, two cousins, Laura and Miles were inseparable, growing up like sisters. ‘Laura being tall, slim and still fairy blonde, popular, academically gifted with an inevitable all star boyfriend’ (5) with Miles on the other hand ‘burying the tonnage packed onto the generous curves of her chest and hips, artificial black hair with peeks of natural blond at the top, giving her the bloated inverted porcupine look' (6). It is evident that the two girls are completely different, wit...more
Miles and Laura were cousins and at some times, best friends (those times being mainly when they got high together). After Laura's suicide, Miles loses herself in cigarettes, pills, and food. Her other best friend, Jamal, doesn't seem to be there for her when she needs him, Laura's best friend, Bex, suddenly wants to hang out with Miles, and Miles' long-absent father appears on the scene and actually seems to want a place in her life. The downward spiral that is Miles' life continues as Jamal an...more
Laura and Miles were cousins, but grew up as sisters. Everything ruins that when Laura kills herself. Even though Miles doesn’t seem have a problem with it because she understands, it seems as if she has lost her best friend.
Miles is a fat girl and she uses it to her advantage. After Laura’s gone she still has Jamal, her only guy friend, but he’s going to college. It seems like everyone is going on with their lives, while Miles is stuck in a fat girl’s body going nowhere in life. Getting high...more
Miles is a fat girl and she uses it to her advantage. After Laura’s gone she still has Jamal, her only guy friend, but he’s going to college. It seems like everyone is going on with their lives, while Miles is stuck in a fat girl’s body going nowhere in life. Getting high...more
One of the better young adult novels to tackle the sensitive subject of teenage suicide. Two cousins grow up side by side. Laura, the priviledged princess living in a castle and Miles the overweight daughter of two self-absorbed nitwits camping out in the carriage house yet Laura is the one to commit suicide, leaving Miles behind to pick up the pieces.
Rachel Cohn has done a good job with a tough topic--how do the survivors deal with a loved one's suicide? Miles is not an attractive character but...more
Rachel Cohn has done a good job with a tough topic--how do the survivors deal with a loved one's suicide? Miles is not an attractive character but...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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This book is a comedy/depressing book. I chose this book because it looked scary and about a ghost because of the cover it has a girl in it and it looks wierd. This book is about a girl named Miles her nickname is Mel, she turned into a bad girl, she started smoking joints and she wanted to drop out of school. Jamal is one of Mel's best friends, he keeps her out of trouble and if she gets into trouble he's there to save the day. Laura is Mel's other best friend, she actualy graduated and Mel's j...more
********Spoilers********
I don't know how I feel about this one. I'm sorry that Laura left such a hole in everyone's life. I'm sorry that she and Miles bonded over drugs. I'm sorry that Miles is fat, and in love with her other best friend. I'm sorry that it was so hard for Miles to figure out her life. I'm glad that Miles had such a good support group, including her dad, who seemed like he was useless. I'm glad that Miles did figure out what she wanted from life, even at such a cost.
The descripti...more
I don't know how I feel about this one. I'm sorry that Laura left such a hole in everyone's life. I'm sorry that she and Miles bonded over drugs. I'm sorry that Miles is fat, and in love with her other best friend. I'm sorry that it was so hard for Miles to figure out her life. I'm glad that Miles had such a good support group, including her dad, who seemed like he was useless. I'm glad that Miles did figure out what she wanted from life, even at such a cost.
The descripti...more
This book is getting on my nerves. I'm about 40 pages in, and I'll give it 50, but unless it seriously picks up I'm going to chuck it. It keeps vacillating between omniscient past tense (the words "Once upon a time" are used repeatedly) and first person present tense. I get the feeling Rachel Cohn thinks she's being Very Extremely Literary, but in fact it just sucks.
Aug 10, 2009
Meaghan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Meaghan by:
random google search "find me ya novel"
Shelves:
ya
I wonder if this book would have gotten published if it weren't from Rachel Cohn. Don't get me wrong, I like her. And I like her with David Levithan. Whenever I'm about to get annoyed or frustrated with the complete and utter sophistication, awareness, and worldliness her characters inevitably portray, I have to remind myself why I appreciate her: she throws something amazing like the following into the fray.
"But I see Jim has resurrected his old Tiffany silver lighter with his initials engrave...more
"But I see Jim has resurrected his old Tiffany silver lighter with his initials engrave...more
page 34 - "she did not kill herself as a means of escaping something. She simply chose not to live. There's a difference."
It's weird...but I found a book about suicide boring.
No, boring isn't the right word. I think I just didn't connect with any of the characters. The conversations were strange for me because they seemed...forced? had confusing slang/lingo? never seemed to be about what they were actually saying but I could never actually squeeze out the real meaning either...
and, honestly, Mil...more
It's weird...but I found a book about suicide boring.
No, boring isn't the right word. I think I just didn't connect with any of the characters. The conversations were strange for me because they seemed...forced? had confusing slang/lingo? never seemed to be about what they were actually saying but I could never actually squeeze out the real meaning either...
and, honestly, Mil...more
I picked this book up randomly in the library on one of my many trips there to find something decent to read and on this adventure I found something. The story takes place in Washington D.C. with an outcast as the main character. She dyed her hair black, takes pills, overweight, and is failing school. But she gets a big blow when her cousin known as the perfect one, blond hair, blue eyed, beautiful, good grades, and popular, kills herself. She overdoses on pills and leaves her family in the wake...more
This is honestly one of the first books I've had this year that I had difficulty finishing. I didsliked this book for a few different reasons:
1. The plot for this book was really weak. A girl's cousin dies and the girl continues her life before the death, except sometimes she seems kind of sad about her cousin.
2. The writing style. It was really weird the way some things were said.
3. MILES. I really, really disliked Miles. All she did was complain. Her best friend (cousin. Sister. Laura) dies an...more
1. The plot for this book was really weak. A girl's cousin dies and the girl continues her life before the death, except sometimes she seems kind of sad about her cousin.
2. The writing style. It was really weird the way some things were said.
3. MILES. I really, really disliked Miles. All she did was complain. Her best friend (cousin. Sister. Laura) dies an...more
PROCESS NOTES!!
BOOK: You Know Where to Find Me
Author: Rachel Cohn
Post its!
• Page 7, I don’t get Miles. She could be a straight A student, I don’t care! She is stupid in the head! The teachers say she is born with the power to write, and read but yet se chooses not to. Why would she want to do that?!
• Page 7, OMG! She sounds like the smartest student ever, why won’t she just try?
• Page 9, when she brings up once a time, I feel like she is saying the things she wants to happen or the things that...more
I really wanted to like this book. Really. After all, I loved other books by Cohn (Gingerbread, Shrimp, and Cupcake). But this novel left me cold.
Miles is our protagonist. An overweight and somewhat bitter teenager, Miles has just experienced a great loss--her cousin, Laura, has committed suicide. Laura died from an overdose, and it is soon revealed that the two cousins liked to get high via "pharms."
Between her "pharms" and her bitterness, it is little wonder that Miles is a loner. Ever her be...more
Miles is our protagonist. An overweight and somewhat bitter teenager, Miles has just experienced a great loss--her cousin, Laura, has committed suicide. Laura died from an overdose, and it is soon revealed that the two cousins liked to get high via "pharms."
Between her "pharms" and her bitterness, it is little wonder that Miles is a loner. Ever her be...more
Like so many, I first came to Rachel Cohn after having read Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. I had liked David Levithan's role better than Cohn's. The two things I liked the least were the Norah chapters and the plot, the two things that Cohn had the most to do with. Thankfully, this book was much better than I expected.
First of all, I need to address the depressing realism. Because it is very real. And very depressing. It was quite saddening to read about Miles's complete disenfranchisement...more
First of all, I need to address the depressing realism. Because it is very real. And very depressing. It was quite saddening to read about Miles's complete disenfranchisement...more
Aug 04, 2012
Janell
added it
This book is about an overweight teenager named Miles. It starts off by telling the story of baby Laura, who is Miles' cousin. Laura is being raised by her politician father Jim. Miles is being raised by Mel in Jim's backyard in a cottage. Mel is Jim's lover's sister. Miles and Laura are like sisters when they were little. They used to do everything together. The two of them used to make up stories and act them out. The two of them looked like sisters when they were younger. When they became tee...more
Reading this a day after Wintergirls was hard since this book deals with another "teen issue"--suicide, also from the perspective of the friend who was left behind. Best friends in childhood and pill-popping friends in high school, Miles is the sullen, Goth, loner who keeps the world at a distance and likes it that way (or at least pretends to) while Laura is the pretty, thin, social butterfly. But when Laura kills herself, Miles has to figure out how to get by, especially when her best friend J...more
FAVOURITE COHN BOOK.
I loved this book so much.
Miles is hilarious, and I totally feel her.
Her sarcasm and lack of self control is totally me,
Although I'm not overweight.
The drug use in this book is pretty realistic,
I totally enjoyed that part,
And when she "floats" I can definately relate.
So yeah, when people complain about how annoying and stupid Miles is, I can't agree because I am exactly like her. (Subtract the bff black dude)
I wish Cohn wrote more books like this!
OR a second novel, explaining...more
I loved this book so much.
Miles is hilarious, and I totally feel her.
Her sarcasm and lack of self control is totally me,
Although I'm not overweight.
The drug use in this book is pretty realistic,
I totally enjoyed that part,
And when she "floats" I can definately relate.
So yeah, when people complain about how annoying and stupid Miles is, I can't agree because I am exactly like her. (Subtract the bff black dude)
I wish Cohn wrote more books like this!
OR a second novel, explaining...more
Cousins Miles and Laura grew up like sisters in a non-traditional family environment. In high school, while Laura went to an elite private school and was smart, beautiful, and popular and Miles attended a public charter school and was goth, overweight, and an underachiever, the two shared a secret misery which they dosed with illegal prescription drugs in the tree house they had played in as children. So when Laura kills herself, Miles feels utterly abandoned. Self-medicating in the bathroom bef...more
"If she could only tell him the sum total of all she loves in him, he'd know she wasn't some ignorant kid who couldn't possibly understand or could experience love; he'd see that she knows it and she hurts for it." - You Know Where to Find Me, Rachel Cohn
When perfect cousin Laura commits suicide, Miles must find a way to understand and cope with the grief and turmoil that's left behind.
I really liked the whole message and point of this book. However, I gave it three stars because I often found i...more
When perfect cousin Laura commits suicide, Miles must find a way to understand and cope with the grief and turmoil that's left behind.
I really liked the whole message and point of this book. However, I gave it three stars because I often found i...more
One thing you've gotta give Rachel Cohn - she's definitely ballsy. Who else would risk a novel of teen suicide, narrated by a pharmed out fat girl prone to referring to herself in the third person? What's amazing is that she's got the talent to match the ambition, fleshing out her protagonist with careless details that might not always be pretty, but certainly always ring true. Cohn's always had an ear for slang, and it continues to serve her well. Yet for all their teen flash, hers are strange...more
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Rachel grew up in the D.C. area and graduated from Barnard College with a B.A. in Political Science. She has written many YA novels, including three that she cowrote with her friend and colleague David Levithan. She lives and writes (when she's not reading other people's books, organizing her music library or looking for the best cappuccino) in New York City.
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“Bruises mapped my body from bumping into tables and tripping over curbs while walking with a book in my hand, my eyes focused on the pages instead of the live space around me.”
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46 people liked it
“Once upon a time, Sleeping Beauty decided to take a nap from which she would never wake up.”
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Aug 09, 2012 11:45am