The Mythic Koda Rose

Product Description
In the spirit of Nina LaCour and Adam Silvera, this offbeat and romantic debut novel follows a teen girl whose desire to find out more about her late rock star father brings her closer to the last person she expected.

Everything Koda Rose knows about her father she’s learned from other people. Moving to New York City with her mom won’t change that, even if New York was Mack Grady’s city—where he became famous, where he wrote his music, and also where he died.

Koda has more important things on her mind. Like how she’s in love with her best friend, Lindsay, and doesn’t have the courage to tell her. Agonizing over how to confess her feelings leads Koda to explore Mack’s enigmatic history in search of answers. She tracks down her dad’s band mate and ex-girlfriend, Sadie Pasquale, and finds herself becoming rapidly obsessed with the mercurial musician.

As Koda and Sadie’s complicated bond deepens, they are both forced to grapple with the black hole Mack left behind, or get sucked in themselves.
From School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up—Koda Rose is a teen trying to find where she belongs and what brings her joy. Her father was a rock legend before he died, confident, creative, and impulsive—all the things that she feels she is not. When Koda and her mother move from L.A. to New York, Koda has a lot to deal with from her past and present all at once: leaving behind a best friend who she wished were more, starting over at a new school, and coming face to face with ghosts from her father’s past. The story of Koda Rose reads authentic and clear. Fans of realistic coming-of-age stories will relate to the everyday trials of life Koda faces. Koda is not afraid to question her sexuality, rules at home and at school, and media norms in general, and teens will connect to her mindset. Multiple layers and side plots will keep them engaged. VERDICT A well-written coming-of-age story, this will suit readers who enjoy contemporary fiction with a hint of mystery.—Elizabeth Pelayo, St. Charles East H.S., IL
Review
“The story of Koda Rose reads authentic and clear. Fans of realistic coming-of-age stories will relate to the everyday trials of life Koda faces. Koda is not afraid to question her sexuality, rules at home and at school, and media norms in general, and teens will connect to her mindset.” — 
School Library Journal

“Ultimately, it’s a tale of a little-girl-lost struggling to find herself for herself that will strike a chord with readers interested in rock celebrity culture.” — 
BCCB

“Nissley’s debut puts a naïve teenager into situations she doesn’t fully comprehend… her introspective struggle with her secret-filled white family’s legacy makes for an offbeat read.” — 
Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Jennifer Nissley is an instructor of writing in a developmental college program, where she has the privilege of working with native and new English speakers from all across the globe. She received her MFA in fiction from Stony Brook University at Southampton and lives with her wife in Queens, New York.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1
MY FATHER’S MOST FAMOUS SONG goes,
You’re not drowning if your eyes are closed.

That’s not how I see it. But as Makeup Lady dabs shadow onto my lids, I hold my breath for as long as I can handle, until the burning in my lungs blots out the chaos around me, and the only sounds are ocean ones. Roar of walkie-talkie static. Photographer’s assistants squawking like gulls.

Makeup Lady switches to my other eye and says relax. Relax, sweetie—no need to be nervous.

“Not when you have such striking eyes.”

“Thanks.” I shiver.

“They’re your father’s.”

My eyes flash open, and I see everything at once: gawkers and Makeup Lady’s too-red mouth and the whitewashed set behind her. Last of all, I see myself, in the mirror. I blink and my eyelashes rustle. Not mine—I felt her press them on. Tragic purpl