Vera's life is about secrets. Living with only a father doesn't exactly inspire her to share her many secrets. He has done his best to raise a teenage daughter himself, but not only is he tight with his money but also with his ability to communicate.
Vera is the result of a teen pregnancy. One of her secrets is that after she was born her mother was a stripper. Her best friend Charlie knows that secret, but she would like to keep it from everyone else if at all possible.
Charlie is at the center of many of Vera's secrets. They have been each other's best friend forever, and they share the secret that Charlie's father abuses Charlie's mother. As neighbors it has been difficult to ignore the sounds of shouts and slaps, but Vera's father says keeping their secret makes things easier for everyone.
It isn't until Charlie's untimely death that Vera fully embraces the secret love that she has felt for him. As she deals with a full-time job, keeping up her grades, and pleasing her father, Vera's stress level has her visualizing Charlie everywhere. It takes a while to realize that the "Charlies" are trying to communicate something. There are secrets that Charlie wants Vera to uncover and use to clear his name. The circumstances around his death were suspicious and involved the destruction of a place Vera loved, but these are secrets she finds it incredibly frightening to share. Will she find the courage she needs to do the right thing?
PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ is presented through multiple voices including both the past and present. A.S. King draws readers into Vera's world and then slowly peels away the layers to reveal each and every secret. The characters speak realistically and the situations ring true making King's story flow smoothly despite the many shifts in focus. This novel will please King's fans and earn her many new ones.
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