EXCERPT and GIVEAWAY
So Glad to Meet You
by Lisa Super
So Glad to Meet You by Lisa Super is currently on tour with Silver Dagger Book Tours. The tour stops here today for an excerpt and a giveaway. Please be sure to visit the other tour stops as well.
Description
Daphne and Oliver have almost nothing in common ...
Seventeen-year-old Daphne Bowman, a bookish drama nerd in public school, might never have crossed paths with Oliver, the popular, outgoing mascot for his private school's football team, but one event has bound them inextricably. Daphne's older sister, Emily, and Oliver's older brother, Jason, who were high school sweethearts, committed suicide together seven years earlier.
When Daphne uncovers Emily and Jason's bucket list - a list comprised of their “Top Ten” places to visit before they die - she knows she has to tell someone. The one person who might actually get what she's going through and who might not think it's silly that she wants to complete the list, is also someone she's never spoken to - Oliver Pagano. Throwing caution to the wind, Daphne sends Oliver a Facebook message that will come to change the course of both of their senior years - and maybe their entire lives.
Tackling grief with a wry voice and an unflinching eye, So Glad to Meet You tells the story of two people who, in searching for what they've lost, end up finding what they never knew they needed - each other.
Excerpt
The final bell rang a decibel lower than usual. Or the pitch was a half note sharp or flat. Daphne didn’t have the musical ear to distinguish exactly what it was, but something sounded different. Maybe because it was Tuesday, and Tuesdays had a tendency to sound that way. She twisted her neck to the surrounding desks. The other students either hadn’t noticed the fluctuation in the bell tone, or they didn’t care. They gathered their books and waited at the door to funnel out of the classroom. Daphne cleared her desk and joined the mob formation.
The student body drained into the hallway like pipes connecting to a festive, heavily perfumed sewer. Homecoming banners dangled from the walls, one gust of wind away from being trampled on the floor. Senior year was in full swing. Three classrooms down, Daphne saw Janine whack a rogue balloon into the air. Even in maximum exertion mode, her best friend’s face rested in its standard quasi-sour state. Daphne leaned against the lockers and waited for Janine to catch up.
“Yo, yo, yo,” Janine said.
“Did the final bell sound different?” Daphne asked.
“Maybe a little louder,” Janine said. “Probably psychological, though. Or both our speakers are on the fritz. Did you see that balloon assault my face?”
Daphne smiled at Janine’s talent for switching subjects in the same breath. “No, I only saw you teaching it a lesson. You should’ve popped it.”
“It will be the greatest regret of my life.” Janine grumbled, but her brown eyes twinkled under the thick, dark brows that intimidated everyone but Daphne.
The two girls plodded down the school hallways, together and alone. Their thrift store attire, with mismatched buttons, vintage threads worn thin, and patches covering the tears, set them apart from the other students clustered against the lockers in assembly line sweaters and knockoff denim. Plus, the secondhand wardrobe was cost effective.
Daphne dialed her locker combination. “Want to go to the game on Friday?” She left out the sarcasm to mess with Janine’s head.
“Why? Do you want to watch a bunch of dudes in spandex concuss themselves?” Distressed, Janine flipped the part of her long, wiry black hair to the other side.
Daphne continued feigning innocence. “I don’t know. I like the sound their helmets make when they collide. It’s so raw and animalistic.”
The tan skin on Janine’s forehead furrowed at this revelation. Mission accomplished.
Daphne’s voice went dreamy, and she slung her bookbag over her shoulder. “It’s the sound I imagine hearing on my deathbed when I’m taking my last breaths. That heavenly sound ushering me into the afterlife.”
Janine groaned, embarrassed that she’d fallen for the ruse. “I thought you’d gone and caught school spirit or something. You know, I’d have to take you out back and put you out of your misery.” They reached Janine’s locker.
“You have my permission,” Daphne said. They’d been doing their best to ease each other’s suffering since fifth grade.
Gazing past Janine, Daphne spied a girl walking away. The hair on Daphne’s arms tingled and pointed straight to the ceiling. From the back, the girl could be Emily. Except that, of course, she couldn’t. The blonde hair swishing at the girl’s shoulders couldn’t be her sister’s. Neither could the slopes and valleys where her ribs and hips became her waist. But Daphne grabbed these seconds, the ticks of time when she reclaimed her sister, when history was rewritten. She held them tight, fingernails digging into her palms, so she was ready to let go when Janine slammed her locker and blocked her view.
“You saw the library was closed, right?” Janine asked.
Daphne flinched, and the raven ends of her asymmetrical bob flopped against her neck and shoulder. “What?”
“I drove by and the sign said it was closed for repairs.” “What does that mean?”
“The library broke.” Janine shrugged.
“What the hell, L.A.?” Daphne slumped against a locker. “Get your public services together.” “Use the school’s library.”
“That’s crazy talk.” “You’re crazy talk.”
“Can I come over?” Daphne pleaded.
“I’m still grounded for flunking my Spanish quiz.”
Daphne scolded Janine. “You already speak two languages. Seems like it shouldn’t be such a struggle to learn a third.” She smirked.
Janine snickered. “What’s your excuse, monolingual?”
Daphne tilted her head up to the ceiling, pretended to think, and lowered her chin with the obvious answer. “White privilege.”
“Damn skippy. If this stupid school offered Armenian, I’d be aces. I mean, I wouldn’t get an A, but I wouldn’t be grounded.”
“Janine, ace of the B-. It’s an art form.”
“Put it up.” Janine raised her arm, and Daphne high-wristed her, joining the fragile bones where arm meets palm.
They’d been doing this in place of high fives since sophomore year. One Saturday, after a fruitful haul from Buffalo Exchange, Janine had dressed for a family reunion in a faded pair of overalls and a black turtleneck with a hole at the wrist.
Janine’s mom wasn’t impressed with their thriftiness. “I can deal with the overalls, but you shouldn’t buy damaged clothes.”
Janine picked up a pair of scissors, cut a hole in the turtleneck’s other wrist, and stuck her thumbs through the holes. “Better?”
Daphne giggled.
Janine’s mom shook her head. “You two are literally wearing your teen angst on your sleeves.”
Janine held up her arm. “High five with wrists.”
Daphne bumped her wrist against Janine’s. An inside joke was born.
Two years later, they were still wearing their literal teen angst on their sleeves. Daphne tapped Janine’s wrist twice for emphasis. “See you tomorrow.” She grinned down the hallway.
[Want more? Click below to read a longer excerpt.]
Praise for the Book
“At once bitingly funny and strikingly poignant, Lisa Super's powerful debut touches on grief, identity, and first love, the perfect read for fans of John Green, Mary H. K. Choi and Rainbow Rowell.” ~ Julia Lynn Rubin, author of Burro Hills
"A moving exploration of heartache and the courage that points toward the light." ~ Kirkus Reviews
“An intimate study of grief, identity, and the power of human connection, wrapped up in a love letter to Los Angeles. Daphne and Oliver broke my heart and then burrowed deep inside it.” ~ Rachel Lynn Solomon, author of You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone
“I adored this book! Equal parts moving, funny and romantic, this is both a breezy, entertaining adventure and a surprisingly thoughtful and real exploration of a subject I’ve rarely seen written about: distanced grief.” ~ NB
“If you like young love blossoming in difficult circumstances, and people finding themselves together, this one is for you!” ~ Shell
About the Author
Lisa Super is a brunch enthusiast based in Los Angeles. She's worked on a number of TV shows ranging from pop culture phenomenon (Flavor of Love) to traumedy gold (One Mississippi). While every day in LA is an adventure, traveling with her husband across the globe is her favorite hobby. So Glad to Meet You is her first novel.
Giveaway
Enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card and a print copy of So Glad to Meet You by Lisa Super.
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