There’s this exciting little piece of publishing a book… Sometimes authors you love and admire read your book in advance and say nice things about it. And sometimes they believe in you enough to put those nice words on your book jacket so readers can see, too. As in, blurbs. Yes! I am so amazed to say that Imaginary Girls was lucky enough to get two author blurbs. Can you believe it? I wanted to share them with you.

If you’ve seen the ARC, you will have seen this wonderful blurb from YA author Nancy Werlin… such an honor, coming from her! This was my very first blurb in the universe and if I ever meet Nancy Werlin, I may not be able to stop myself from giving her a hug.

“A surreal little nightmare in book form. I just loved it. Nova Ren Suma’s voice is unique and riveting, and so is the indelible Ruby, who dominates the reader from the very first page. It’s the book everyone will be dying to talk about.”

—Nancy Werlin, author of Impossible and Extraordinary

And while I was away I was thrilled when my editor emailed me with the following blurb from an author I have long admired, the supremely talented and extremely surreal Aimee Bender:

“Eerie and gripping and told with lush and inviting scenes, Imaginary Girls will haunt its readers. An intensely vivid portrayal of love and no-choice loyalty and power that has no easy answers.”

—Aimee Bender, author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

If you know me at all, you know that Aimee Bender has long been one of my favorite writers, since I first read her story collection The Girl in the Flammable Skirt as a young writer in graduate school years ago. When I was in my early twenties and I read that book it opened up a whole world for me… the idea of writing surreal stories, where the everyday is skewed and fantastical things begin to happen. Imaginary Girls surely would not exist without me being influenced by Aimee Bender’s stories and novels over the years. To have her blurb my book… it’s incredible. And very surreal!

I’m so grateful for the support from Nancy and Aimee and, if possible, all the more excited for the summer, when Imaginary Girls comes out. Less than four months away!