A love story starring my dead best friend : a novel

For months, Cass Meyer has heard her best friend Julia, a wannabe Broadway composer, whispering about a top-secret project. Then Julia is killed in a sudden car accident, and while Cass is still reeling from her death, Julia’s boyfriend and her other drama friends make it their mission to bring to fruition the nearly-completed secret project: a musical about an orphaned ninja princess entitled Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad . Cass isn’t one of the drama people. She doesn’t feel at home with Julia’s drama friends, and she doesn’t see a place for her in the play. Things only get worse when she finds out that Heather Galloway, the girl who made her miserable all through middle school, has been cast as the ninja princess. Cass can’t take a summer of swallowing her pride and painting sets, so she decides to follow her original plan for a cross-country road trip with Julia. Even if she has a touring bicycle instead of a driver’s license, and even if Julia’s ashes are coming along in Tupperware. Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad is a story about friendship. About love. About traveling a thousand miles just to find yourself. About making peace with the past, and making sense of it. And it’s a story about the bloodiest high school musical one quiet suburb has ever seen.

for Months, Cass Has Heard Her Best Friend, Julia, Whisper About A Secret Project. When Julia Dies In A Car Accident, Her Drama Friends Decide To Bring The Project—a Musical Called Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad—to Fruition. But Cass Isn't A Drama Person. She Can't Take A Summer Of Painting Sets, And She Won't Spend Long Hours With Heather, The Girl Who Made Her Miserable All Through Middle School And Has Somehow Landed The Leading Role. So Cass Takes Off. In Alternating Chapters, She Spends The First Part Of Summer On A Cross-country Bike Trip And The Rest Swallowing Her Pride, Making Props, And—of All Things—falling For Heather.

This Is A Story Of The Breadth Of Love. Of The Depth Of Friendship. And Of The Most Hilarious Musical One Quiet Suburb Has Ever Seen.

the New York Times - Regina Marler

a Love Story Alternately Pursues Two Narrative Tracks— The Present Day, In Which Cass Negotiates Her Painful Relationships With Ollie And Heather, And The Recent Past, In Which She Attempted A Solo Bicycle Trip From Chicago To California With Julia's Ashes, Planning To Scatter Them In The Ocean. Sometimes These Two Stories Don't Align, And Breakthroughs In The Past Are Followed By Disorienting Returns To The Same Issues In The Present. A Budding Romance With Heather Is Not Always Convincing, Either. But The Strength Of This Promising Novel Is Its Emotional Reach, From Mourning Through Identity Crisis Through New Love. Cass's Grief Colors Everything, And The Grief Itself Is Tinged Always With That Question She Never Let Herself Ask: Was She In Love With Julia?

Cassie is in grief over the death of her best friend, Julia, who died behind the wheel in a road accident. She had unrequited romantic feelings for her friend, and now she is determined to cycle from Illinois to California with Julia's ashes, so she can scatter them in the ocean that Julia never managed to see. Over the course of her trip, through various experiences and encounters, Cassie confirms to herself that she is gay. And then, when her bike and most of her money is stolen, she discovers her true friends and a sort of unhoped-for salvation. Interspersed through the narrative is the unfolding love story between Heather and Cassie, as Heather slowly reveals to Cassie her true feelings, and Cassie begins to open up to the possibility of reciprocal romance. "Cass and her drama-crazy best-friend, Julia, were planning a road trip to California. When Julia is killed in a car accident, Cass decides to follow the original plan anyway. Even if she has a bicycle instead of a driver's licence, and even if Julia's ashes are coming along in Tupperware. This is a story about friendship. About love. About travelling a thousand miles just to find yourself. And it's a story about the kookiest high school musical one quiet suburb has ever seen."--Cover As she tries to sort out her feelings of love, seventeen-year-old Cass, a spunky math genius with an introverted streak, finds a way to memorialize her dead best friend.