Twelve Long Months

by Brian Malloy

Book Overview

From Brian Malloy, acclaimed author of the adult novel The Year of Ice, comes a smart, funny, heartfelt novel about being a straight girl who's completely fallen for a gay boy. Molly Swain is... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 043987761X
• ISBN13: 9780439877619
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Length: 316 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

Too True

I was hooked on this author with THE YEAR OF ICE and his dramatically different BRENDAN WOLF. Unlike his previous efforts, this book is light and fluffy, but no less entertaining. What next? With three very different books to date, I have no idea. Maybe a cook book? This is a writer's writer.

Colorful, realistic characters make this a great, light read for all ages

Molly Swain is a rather shy, intelligent high school senior in small town Minnesota, with a major crush on her chemistry lab partner, Mark Dahl, a brooding, sullen but handsome teen, who owes his grade in that class to Molly's help. When Molly finds out that Mark will be moving to New Jersey after graduation, not far from where she'll be going to college, at Columbia in Manhattan, on a full scholarship, she dreams that this one-sided romance might develop into more. But it isn't long before Molly gets a painful revelation ... Mark is gay ... and painfully tries to get over her dreams for them, and be the good friend and confidant that he needs. It becomes easier when Molly starts dating a guy from one of her classes, but fate would deliver another blow she never saw coming. I've read and enjoyed Malloy's earlier works, "The Year of Ice" and "Brendan Wolf," and now know what I like most about his writing: he has the ability to create multifaceted, realistic characters with whom the reader can relate. We like them for their good qualities, and sometimes even more because of (or in spite of) their faults. Such is the case with all of the characters here, including the families of each of the younger characters. Well written, light read, which I give four stars out of five.

loving things such as physics and people

this book is wonderfully endearing and i love it so. the characters are warm and emotive and effortlessly real. i found mild grammar issues contained within the book but apart from that i much enjoyed reading every page. please read this book.

The Compulsive Reader's Reviews

Molly is a bit of a nerd. She has a full scholarship to Columbia in New York City, and is obsessed with school, physics...and Mark Dahl. Mark is her gorgeous lab partner, and the love of her life. He just doesn't realize it yet. And at the close of their senior year in their tiny Minnesota town, Molly despairs of ever seeing him again. But she is shocked and delighted to find that he is moving to New Jersey, and knows that they are meant to be. But Molly isn't in New York very long before she finds out Mark's secret. He's gay. And no one but Molly knows. Suddenly their relationship shifts wildly, and Molly finds herself trying to be just a friend to the guy she was sure she was meant to be with, while at the same time trying to mend her broken heart. Twelve Long Months chronicles Molly and Mark's relationship beautifully. Told from Molly's point of view, it is a vivid look at what happens when suddenly your dreams and expectations collide with real life, and how you can pick up the pieces in order to move on. Molly's voice rings true, and you'll empathize with her as she struggles to make her way through her first year of college, and balance friends, work, and a love life. Malloy's writing is very effective and personal. His ability to reach out to the reader and make that strong connection between protagonist and audience is remarkable. Twelve Long Months is a well drawn out, gratifying, and very humorous read that will especially appeal to anyone who has ever understood the heartbreak of a crush. [...]