★ 10/30/2023

Ever since she failed to graduate high school, was fired from her job at a friend’s floral shop, and her father died from cancer, Atlas James has been feeling directionless. The only guidepost she seems to have is the Bear Creek Community Service program; while some teens are court-mandated to participate in the four-week project cleaning up Sierra mountain hiking trails, Atlas—whose father loved the mountains—volunteers, feeling as if attending is her only chance to honor him and turn her life around. When Atlas arrives, she’s given the nickname Maps (“The nicknames are a blank slate”). It’s a difficult learning curve: she can’t pitch a tent, and the work is exhausting. But the experience is also inspiring and invigorating, and though Atlas’s grief doesn’t disappear, her growing friendships with her assigned trail mates—and her on-again-off-again attraction with intense trail leader King—help lighten the load. Dwyer (Some Mistakes Were Made) crafts stirring and organic character interactions via Atlas and her trail mates’ good-humored banter, as well as her electric chemistry with King. Combined with the lushly depicted wilderness setting, Atlas’s fledgling relationships emphasize how connection can bloom unexpectedly—and powerfully—even amid grief. Atlas and King read as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sarah Landis, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Jan.)

"Beautifully written. Gripping and authentic in the ways it portrays grief and shows how moving forward means having to let go."  — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Dwyer crafts stirring and organic character interactions via Atlas and her trail mates’ good-humored banter, as well as her electric chemistry with King. Combined with the lushly depicted wilderness setting, Atlas’s fledgling relationships emphasize how connection can bloom unexpectedly—and powerfully—even amid grief." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Dwyer meaningfully shows how Atlas, who brims with pain over her father's death, gradually learns how to live with her loss. The analogy of life as a trail that needs maintenance and care applies here, and Atlas learns that with both, you have to keep going." — Booklist

"Of Atlas's peers she observes, 'They make loving seem easy.' It isn’t; neither is getting over loss and grief. Dwyer’s open approach to both ends of this emotional spectrum invites mature readers into the discussion. VERDICT This romance, with gentle but explicit sex scenes, deals realistically with teens’ denial after the loss of a loved one. Recommended for mature YA audiences of all collections." — School Library Journal

“Undoubtedly one of the strongest contemporary voices in YA. Dwyer is a master of emotion, and her latest is a complete knock out, filled with fantastic characters and such raw vulnerability that readers will be thinking of this story long after the finish the final page.” — Adalyn Grace, New York Times bestselling author of Belladonna

“A raw, unflinching examination of grief and the way it changes us. Wrapped in Dwyer’s signature wit and gorgeous prose, The Atlas of Us takes readers on a journey of found family and intense love, set against the beauty and stillness of nature. Utterly compelling and impossible to put down, Dwyer’s sophomore novel is stunning from beginning to end.” — Rachel Griffin, New York Times bestselling author of Bring Me Your Midnight 

“Kristin Dwyer's emotional, one-of-a-kind storytelling shines in this poignant book about grief, found family, and heart aching romance. The Atlas of Us pulls at the heart strings in a way that only Dwyer can do.” — Adrienne Young, New York Times and International bestselling author. 

“Achingly romantic, The Atlas of Us is a love letter to finding the beauty in nature and finding yourself. Maps’ journey to figure out what being “bad” means, how to cope with loss and how to find her people will have you turning the pages and wishing to swim in the rivers with her.” — Rachel Simon, Youth Librarian at Newton Free Library, Newton, MA

“I’ve never read a book that felt so much like picking up pieces of a broken heart —powerful, poignant, and true.” — Axie Oh, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea and XOXO

“Part summer daydream, part secret whisper, The Atlas of Us is beautiful and aching and deeply romantic. A love story for anyone who has ever told a lie, made a mistake, or dared to hope for something just out of reach.” — #1 New York Times bestselling author of Once Upon A Broken Heart, Stephanie Garber

Praise for Some Mistakes Were Made: “The slow-build romance is swoonworthy, and young adult fans of Colleen Hoover seeking emotional devastation and unforgettable characters will find much to enjoy here. A powerful tale of found family and first love.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Readers will desperately root for ­Ellis and Easton in this unforgettable romance. A perfectly emotional read for fans of Nicola Yoon and Becky Albertalli, this coming-of-age romance is one not to miss.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

“A breathtaking tour de force of angst and longing. Heartbreaking, painfully romantic, and deeply human.” — Stephanie Garber, #1 bestselling author of Caraval

“Funny, romantic, and heartfelt. A stunning debut!” — Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Creatures 

"A novel you can make yourself at home in, with characters so real it feels like you’ve known them for ages. I loved the family dynamic, the slow burn, all of those gorgeous lines so clear and startling they lift off the page, and the way it made my heart slowly (but surely) shatter. This one will stick with you." — Jenna Evans Welch, New York Times bestselling author of Love & Gelato

"A deeply human story of first love, found family, and the heartbreak of losing them both. With vulnerable prose that is at turns achingly tender and others hilarious, readers will laugh through their tears. SOME MISTAKES WERE MADE is a profoundly honest exploration of identity, friendship and learning to let go. This is the kind of book you return to again and again." — New York Times bestselling author Adrienne Young 

"SOME MISTAKES WERE MADE made me feel. Dwyer writes with such wit and honesty, I was at turns laughing out loud and then crying my eyes out. These characters will stay with me forever, and I'm only heartbroken there wasn't another chapter to devour." — Isabel Ibanez, bestselling author of Woven in Moonlight

"This book comes with its own aching heartbeat. Be forewarned, it's stronger than it looks." — Stacey Lee, award winning author of LUCK OF THE TITANIC

“Beautiful, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful. This is a rare gift of a novel.” — Robyn Schneider, bestselling author of The Beginning of Everything

"SOME MISTAKES WERE MADE is a gorgeous meditation on shattered dreams and making amends, found family and loyalty and what it means to sacrifice for the people we love most. Dwyer’s debut is brimming with hope and love amidst angst, longing, heartache, and the bittersweetness of growing up. It is tender and romantic, vulnerable and sincere, but it is never ever cheesy. I was rooting for Easton and Ellis from the very first page." — Ashley Woodfolk, acclaimed author of WHEN YOU WERE EVERYTHING and THE BEAUTY THAT REMAINS

"Some Mistakes Were Made is the angsty romance of my dreams. I wanted to linger in Kristin Dwyer’s beautiful prose forever and savor all the perfect, vivid details. But once I started this special book, I just couldn’t put it down!" — Elise Bryant, author of Happily Ever Afters

“Gorgeously romantic and compulsively readable. Some Mistakes Were Made and these flawed, unforgettable characters wrecked my heart and then repaired it, filling the cracks with hope and possibility. A captivating story of first love, first heartbreak, and the delicate beauty of second chances.” — Rachel Lynn Solomon, author of Today Tonight Tomorrow

"Dwyer's debut reaches into the complexities of family and societal pressure and draws out a one-of-a-kind narrative of the pain and passion of reuniting broken bonds. With vivid prose and heart-stopping romance, Some Mistakes Were Made is the powerful entry of a gorgeous new voice." — Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka, authors of Always Never Yours

04/05/2024

Gr 10 Up—Atlas wants to forget that her father died last year when she was a junior in high school—before she dropped out, before she lost her job at the flower shop, and before her mother stopped being invincible. Atlas pretends—or lies, as she admits to herself—that she's okay. Secretly, however, she's kept her father's list of last wishes, because one was to hike the Western Sierra mountain range with her. She was just a kid when he taught her to love these mountains. Now, more than a year after his passing, she's accepted into a rigorous peer-led summer conservation program in this exact location. She's dropped off by her mother, sulky and silent. But her commitment to return without her Dad makes plain that she's determined to move forward, even if she can't see it. One who does is King, a trail leader who buries his attraction to Atlas for his own reasons. Telling the truth becomes a prerequisite for romance as they edge towards the chasm of deep feelings that each wants to excavate. Lasting friendships formed on the trail also rescue Atlas from this confusing time of anger and denial. Of her peers she observes, "They make loving seem easy." It isn't; neither is getting over loss and grief. Dwyer's open approach to both ends of this emotional spectrum invites mature readers into the discussion. Most characters cue white; a secondary character is gay. VERDICT This romance, with gentle but explicit sex scenes, deals realistically with teens' denial after the loss of a loved one. Recommended for mature YA audiences of all collections.—Georgia Christgau

Alexandra Hunter narrates this complex exploration of grief with tender sincerity. Atlas James is utterly shattered by the death of her father, the only person she feels ever understood her. After a series of poor decisions, Atlas (newly rechristened "Maps") ends up alongside a group of total strangers in a community service project devoted to rehabilitating the wilderness trails that her father adored. Hunter's narration deftly interweaves the rawness of Atlas's grief and her sarcastic attempts to put up barriers against her fellow service hikers. As she is reluctantly drawn into a circle of camaraderie, and perhaps attraction, Hunter's tone shifts to display hints of the playfulness and humor that Atlas and her new friends exchange while learning about themselves and each other. N.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

★ 2023-09-23
After her father dies, a teen drops out of high school, loses her job, and embarks on a four-week journey through the California backcountry.

Everyone in the Bear Creek Community Service program is assigned a nickname as part of starting over with “a blank slate.” No one needs to know your past or whether you’re there by choice or court order. All that matters is the present: working on hiking trail maintenance. For Atlas James, or Maps, as she’s now known, it’s an escape from the poor decisions she’s made since her father’s death from cancer and a tribute to him. One of his dying wishes was to hike the Western Sierra Trail with her—the same one she’ll now be spending the summer working on with Books, Junior, Sugar, and King. Maps is immediately drawn to group leader King, and as secrets are revealed, the two act as magnets, attracting and repelling one another. Maps’ tangible grief is centered as she copes with the loss of the only person who understood her and always had her back. Gradually, as they clear brush, dig drainage, and battle the backcountry and their pasts, a sense of family is forged among the crew. The palpable romantic tension between King and Maps propels this beautifully written story. Junior is coded Black; other major characters read white.

Gripping and authentic in the ways it portrays grief and shows how moving forward means having to let go. (Fiction. 14-18)