But I Love Him

At the beginning of senior year, Ann was a smiling, straight-A student with friends and a future. Then she met a haunted young man named Connor. Only she can heal his emotional scars; only he could make her feel so loved-and needed. Just one mistake could trigger Connor's rage, a violent storm damaging everything-and everyone-in its path. Sometimes at night, I wake up and stare at the heart for hours. I think of how I collected each piece from the beach, how I glued it all together into one big sculpture. I wonder if Connor realizes what it means, that he'll always have a piece of me no matter what happens. Each piece of glass is another piece of myself that I gave to him. It's too bad I didn't keep any pieces for myself. At the beginning of senior year, Ann was a smiling, straight-A student and track star with friends and a future. Then she met a haunted young man named Connor. Only she can heal his emotional scars; only he could make her feel so loved - and needed. Ann can't recall the pivotal moment it all changed, when she surrendered everything to be with him, but by graduation, her life has become a dangerous high wire act. Just one mistake could trigger Connor's rage, a senseless storm of cruel words and violence damaging everything - and everyone - in its path. This evocative slideshow of flashbacks reveals a heartbreaking story of love gone terribly wrong. AGES: 12 to 18 AUTHOR: Amanda Grace is an alias for Mandy Hubbard, who is the author of Prada & Prejudice, You Wish, Ripple (all published by Razorbill/Penguin), But I Love Him and In Too Deep (both published by Flux). In Too Deep has been named a Junior Library Guild selection. She is a literary agent for D4EO Literary, where she represents authors of middle grade and teen fiction.