Books with title The Opposite of Fate

A playful look at “opposites” from this exciting new picture book author and acclaimed illustrator.A little boy wakes up one morning to see The Opposite sitting on his ceiling. This impish creature manages to ensure that whatever the little boy says, the opposite will be true. The little boy tries to rectify everything as it goes wrong, but the mess in the kitchen and the classroom soon gets him into trouble. It takes some very quick thinking, and a clever twist, for him to be able to get rid of the Opposite once and for all!

With perfect pitch for the humor and heartbreak of everyday life, Julie Buxbaum has fashioned a heroine who will be instantly recognizable to anyone who has loved and lost and loved again.When successful twenty-nine-year-old Manhattan attorney Emily Haxby ends her happy relationship just as her boyfriend is on the verge of proposing, she can’t explain to even her closest friends why she did it. Somewhere beneath her sense of fun, her bravado, and her independent exterior, Emily knows that her breakup with Andrew has less to do with him and more to do with...her. “You’re your own worst enemy,” her best friend Jess tells her. “It’s like you get pleasure out of breaking your own heart.”As the holiday season looms and Emily contemplates whether she made a huge mistake, the rest of her world begins to unravel: she is assigned to a multimillion-dollar lawsuit where she must defend the very values she detests by a boss who can’t keep his hands to himself; her Grandpa Jack, a charming, feisty octogenarian and the person she cares most about in the world, is losing it, while her emotionally distant father has left her to cope with this alone; and underneath it all, fading memories of her deceased mother continue to remind her that love doesn’t last forever.How this brave, original young heroine finally decides to take control of her life and face the fears that have long haunted her is the great achievement of Julie Buxbaum’s marvelous first novel. Written with the authority, grace, and wisdom of an author far beyond her years, The Opposite of Love heralds the debut of a remarkable talent in contemporary fiction.

A second novel for Young Picador from Whitbread-shortlist star! It`s a long, hot summer - and a climactic one. For 14-year-old Sapphire it brings the awesome, terrifying realisation that she is pregnant - a discovery that catapults her into the eye of a storm as her body, her future, her life, become a battleground for everyone`s needs but her own. Meanwhile, out in the humid urban night, a mysterious firebug is running wild, working out his own anger and confusion with dramatic consequences. Somehow, from this cauldron of emotion and fear, Sapphire must find a way to take control of her life - and make the most agonising and lonely of choices.

Melissa’s father drowns while saving her life. She stands over his fresh grave, heartbroken. Yet she also feels betrayed. How could he leave me like this? She’s torn between sadness and anger. She’s only eleven.Hal, Melissa’s kid brother, narrates the story. People don’t know what to make of Hal. They say he isn’t right in the head, that maybe he’s autistic, or even, cruelly, “retarded.” Hal realizes he’s different. To him it’s odd that no one else can hear people’s thoughts, and odd how others struggle to learn lessons of life that he’s always known.But Hal is perhaps the world’s greatest underachiever. He’s intelligent, yet speaks aloud in gibberish. He thinks of his special-education classes as “all of the fun with none of the responsibility.” He makes a hobby of behaving oddly, just to see people’s reactions. And woe be to adults who show intolerance—he gives what they expect, but takes it up a notch (into Jim Carrey territory).Hal is content in the life he has contrived, and wishes Melissa could find contentment as well. But once in a while his heart aches when he realizes how alone he can feel, even amongst loved ones. To not feel so lonely; so different—this is Hal’s great internal wish.Hal cries at his father’s funeral, but realizes his pressing concern is for Melissa’s future. He knows lives have been ruined over less. Will he be able to help her?A year passes. Melissa’s trips to detention hall allow her time to decide that it’s her fault her dad drowned. Obviously, causing your dad’s death means you’re cursed. And if you’re cursed, you don’t have to try. Why bother? You’ll probably just die anyway. Hal dislikes her underachieving attitude but what can he say? His is worse!Melissa’s behavior leans towards ADD; she’s in trouble constantly. Mom signs Melissa up for gymnastics. Melissa enjoys the sport, and, to Mom’s great relief, it uses up a lot of her excess energy. Hal, overactive as well, also ends up at the gym. But gymnastics is no panacea; though less frequently, Melissa still has flashes of anger and trouble in school.A new coach, Bo, arrives and takes over Melissa’s team. Hal can tell from the girls’ thoughts that Bo is a hunk.Zen-like philosophies pervade Bo’s unconventional teachings. He’s a fair, yet strict coach. And for some reason, Hal cannot hear Bo’s thoughts. Very peculiar, Hal thinks.Melissa is enthralled with Bo and wants to learn, yet remains at odds with herself. Her rebellious streak is by now so ingrained that she rejects any authority, even Bo’s.Bo makes a few inroads into her tough shell, and attempts to explain a higher state of consciousness, which he calls “the glow”—that feeling of satisfaction that comes from immersion in high levels of art, whether a beautiful scene in nature, a touching melody, or even a well-executed gymnastics routine. Hal, excited, has felt this sensation before! Melissa, cynical and unimpressed, asks Bo if he’s a flower child, or if his parents did a lot of drugs.An eccentric, scarred old Russian, Mr. Purvis, or “The Purv” as the kids call him, lives on the way to the gym. Purv is selling a junker of a pickup, which Hal decides to climb onto one day. Usually nobody can sneak up on Hal (he hears their thoughts), but Purv surprises Hal, lifting him from the truck. He tells Hal, “I know your game, little one.” Hal, shocked, listens for explanatory thoughts, but finds that he can hear none of Purv’s thoughts whatsoever.Melissa must decide what kind of young woman she will become. Someone who sees the good in the world and uses her abilities? Or someone who gives up and gives in to the wrong crowd and their dangerous habits?She learns that things aren’t always what they seem, nor are people always who they appear to be on the surface. On her journey, there are thugs, bullies, victories, disappointments, good times and lessons about sports, which happen to be lessons about life.