We all remember our awkward first love, the rush of unknown feelings and not knowing quite what to say. Candace Ganger captures all of the bumps in the road and simmering chemistry of those early days in THE INEVITABLE COLLISION OF BIRDIE & BASH (St. Martin’s Griffin; July 25, 2017). Ganger, a contributing writer for HelloGiggles, debuts with her full of feels young adult novel set around a skating rink with two characters you can’t help but root for. She explores this tender time during occasions of family tragedy, and whether young love can pull apart or become an anchor in the face of impossible circumstances.
About the Novel: Sebastian Alvaréz is just trying to hold the pieces together: to not flunk out, to keep his sort-of-best-friend Wild Kyle from doing something really bad, and to see his beloved Ma through chemo. But when he meets Birdie Paxton, a near-Valedictorian who doesn’t realize she’s smoking hot in her science pun T-shirt, at a party, an undeniable attraction sparks. And suddenly he’s not worried about anything. Before they are able to exchange numbers, they are pulled apart. A horrifying tragedy soon links Birdie and Bash together–but neither knows it. When they finally reconnect, and are starting to fall–hard–the events of the tragedy unfold, changing both of their lives in ways they can never undo.
Loosely based on real life tragic circumstances, Ganger says, “I’d been wrestling with a family tragedy for years, wondering how I could write about this unfathomable event in a way that might help my family heal but nothing ever really felt right.” When Birdie and Bash came alive on the page, Ganger says “this was my way of re-writing their history with a bit of hope.” Told in alternating perspectives, THE INEVITABLE COLLISION OF BIRDIE & BASH is a beautiful, complex, and ultimately hopeful teen novel that will move you to the very last page.
About the Author: Candace Ganger is a YA author, contributing writer for HelloGiggles, and obsessive marathoner. Aside from having past lives as a singer, nanotechnology website editor, and world’s worst vacuum sales rep, she’s also ghostwritten hundreds of projects for companies, best-selling fiction and award-winning nonfiction authors alike. Candance–aka, Candyland–has a severe Milky Way addiction and eats way too many doughnuts. FYI: She’s totally awkward in person (#sorrynotsorry). She lives in Ohio with her family.
Jennifer Mary G 
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