Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates - Young Adult - Paperback

Condition: BRAND NEW
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780007145737
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Age Range: Young Adult (13+)

Overview:
Big Mouth and Ugly Girl is Joyce Carol Oates's first novel for young adults, a sharp, emotionally honest story about rumour, loyalty and courage in an American high school. When class joker Matt Donaghy is wrongly accused of threatening to bomb his school, misfit loner Ursula Riggs steps forward to defend him, sparking an unlikely friendship. Told with Oates's trademark precision and empathy, this paperback explores how quickly hysteria spreads through a community, and how quiet bravery can push back against it. A compelling, thought-provoking read for teens and adults alike.

About the Book:
Joyce Carol Oates brings her formidable literary skill to the young adult genre in Big Mouth and Ugly Girl, delivering a story that favours psychological nuance over easy resolutions. Matt Donaghy, popular for his humour, finds his life upended when a joke is misread as a genuine threat, leading to his arrest and the collapse of his social world almost overnight. Ursula Riggs, an athletic, guarded girl known to classmates as "Ugly Girl," is the only witness willing to tell the truth about what she saw, even though it means drawing unwanted attention to herself. As the two navigate the fallout, Oates examines how fear distorts judgement, how friend groups close ranks against inconvenient truths, and how young people find the nerve to do the right thing when it isn't easy. The novel moves between Matt's and Ursula's perspectives, building a layered portrait of adolescence under pressure. Themes of loyalty, mental health, social exclusion and the ethics of speaking up run throughout, making this a rich choice for classroom discussion and book clubs.

Key Benefits:

• Written by multi-award-winning author Joyce Carol Oates.
• A gripping, character-driven story about friendship under pressure.
• Explores timely themes of rumour, loyalty and standing up for the truth.
• Ideal for high school reading lists, book clubs and independent teen readers.
• Brand new paperback copy, ready to read or gift straight away.

About the Author:
Joyce Carol Oates is an acclaimed American author whose prolific body of work spans novels, short stories, plays and essays. She has been nominated twice for the Nobel Prize in Literature and has won the National Book Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. A longtime professor at Princeton University, Oates is celebrated for her incisive exploration of identity, violence and society. Big Mouth and Ugly Girl was her first venture into young adult fiction, bringing the same emotional honesty found throughout her acclaimed adult novels.

Why You'll Love This Book:
A standalone YA novel with genuine emotional depth, Big Mouth and Ugly Girl gives teens, teachers and book clubs plenty to discuss and debate long after the final page. Joyce Carol Oates's distinctive, unflinching voice and this clean, brand-new paperback format make it a lasting addition to any school library or home bookshelf.

Please Note: Cover may vary slightly from image shown; this is the UK edition matching the ISBN listed above.