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WORK TITLE: Now You See Her
WORK NOTES: co-author with Laura Leighton
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.lisaleightonlaurastropki.com/
CITY: Cleveland
STATE: OH
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
Sister of Lisa Leighton.
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married; children: yes.
ADDRESS
CAREER
WRITINGS
Also coauthor of a blog, Lisa and Laura Write.
SIDELIGHTS
Laura Stropki is a writer and novelist based in Cleveland, Ohio. She frequently writes with her sister, Lisa Leighton. Their debut novel, Now You See Her, is a young adult thriller that considers questions of identity, personality, and privilege.
Amelia Fischer, the protagonist of the novel, is a seventeen-year-old high school senior. She has had a difficult life, frequently moving to different areas of the United States with her mother and younger sister. Now that she and her family have come to Morristown, Amelia hopes she can finally find enough stability to finish high school and get on with her life.
As a student athlete, Amelia has some talent as a tennis player. She is also envious of her classmate and fellow tennis player Sophie Graham, who comes from a privileged, almost stereotypically perfect background. Sophie is also just good enough at tennis to keep Amelia from advancing to top positions on the team.
After a particularly hard-fought match between them, Amelia once again loses to Sophie. Disappointed yet again, Amelia heads home in the rain. During the short trip, she has a flat tire, leaving her stranded alongside the road. A man stops to help her, whom she believes to be a good Samaritan, but unexpectedly, she is attacked by the man. She escapes by fleeing into traffic. Later, when she wakes up, she discovers to her horror and dismay that she is occupying Sophie’s body, and that her own body is seriously injured and in a coma. Stunned by what has happened, Amelia realizes that she will have to live her life as Sophie until she can find out what happened and what caused the identity shift to take place. As she discovers that Sophie’s life isn’t all happiness and pleasure, she becomes more and more determined to find out who the man was who attacked her and what he has to do with her bodily shift.
Amelia is a “likable and relatable character,” and readers of the novel “will be engrossed in the mystery that surrounds her kidnapper and how it’s connected to her,” remarked School Library Journal writer Trade Marshall.
“Starting with a tantalizing premise, the plot idles for a long stretch before wowing the reader with an accelerated pace and ingenious solution,” commented a Kirkus Reviews contributor. A Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded that the authors’ “compelling debut asks interesting questions about identity and memory, and a clever twist in the last act will shock readers.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2018, review of Now You See Her.
Publishers Weekly, April 30, 2018, review of Now You See Her, p. 62.
School Library Journal, April, 2018, Trade Marshall, review of Now You See Her, p. 134.
ONLINE
Lisa Leighton and Laura Stropki website, https://www.lisaleightonlaurastropki.com (July 17, 2018).
Lisa Leighton and Laura Stropki are sisters who live in Cleveland, Ohio. They have two husbands, five children and two dogs that are technically half brothers.
The sisters grew up fighting over terrible clothes and sharing Harlequin romance novels and Christopher Pike mysteries.
Represented by the fabulous Rebecca Podos of the Rees Agency, their goal is to write the kind of books they would have stayed up all night reading without killing each other. So far so good.
My blogs
lisa and laura write
About me
Gender FEMALE
Industry Publishing
Occupation Young Adult Writers
Location Cleveland, OH, United States
Introduction Lisa Leighton and Laura Stropki are sisters who live in Cleveland, Ohio. They have two husbands, five children and two dogs that are technically half brothers. The sisters grew up fighting over terrible clothes and sharing Harlequin romance novels and Christopher Pike mysteries. Their goal is to write the kind of books they would have stayed up all night reading without killing each other. So far so good.
Now You See Her
Publishers Weekly.
265.18 (Apr. 30, 2018): p62+. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Now You See Her
Lisa Leighton and Laura Stropki. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-06-242863-9
After losing a tennis match with popular Sophie Graham, 17-year-old Amelia Fischer drives home in the rain. A blown tire leaves her stranded, and when a man stops, he knows her name. She quickly realizes, though, that he's not there to help, and after he tries to grab her, she throws herself into traffic. When she wakes up in the hospital, she's in Sophie's body, while her own lies in a coma in critical condition. Amelia is terrified, but she is also determined to find out why the switch happened and how she can get back to her own body. Sifting through Sophie's life, Amelia, who narrates, realizes that all is not perfect in Sophie's privileged world, and she resolves to find the man who confronted her on that dark road. The delightfully snarky Amelia and her struggle to not lose herself in Sophie's life rings true, as does her eventual realization that stepping outside her own life might be an opportunity. The plot takes some time to build, but it finds its stride in the second half. Leighton and Stropki's compelling debut asks interesting questions about identity and memory, and a clever twist in the last act will shock readers. Ages 13-up. Agent: Rebecca Podos, Rees Literary Agency. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Now You See Her." Publishers Weekly, 30 Apr. 2018, p. 62+. Book Review Index Plus,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A537852334/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=09b288f5. Accessed 9 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A537852334
1 of 2 6/8/18, 11:59 PM
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MA...
LIGHTON, Lisa & Laura Stropki.
Now You See Her
Trade Marshall
School Library Journal.
64.4 (Apr. 2018): p134+. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
LIGHTON, Lisa & Laura Stropki. Now You See Her. 320p. HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Bks. Jun. 2018. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780062428639.
Gr 9 Up--Seniors in high school, Amelia and Sophie couldn't be more different. Amelia has moved around the United States with her mom and younger sister. While Amelia looks for stability in Morristown, she can't help but be jealous of her classmate. Sophie has lived in Morristown her entire life, has a picture-perfect family, best friend, and boyfriend. After a tennis match between Amelia and Sophie in which Sophie wins again, Amelia feels defeated. While driving home, her car breaks down. Amelia believes she is being rescued by a good patron, but instead she is taken by force. She is able to get away from her kidnapper but is met on the road by Sophie's car, which results in a terrible accident. Amelia wakes up in a hospital room in Sophie's body while Sophie remains in a coma trapped in Amelia's body. Readers will be engrossed in the mystery that surrounds her kidnapper and how it's connected to her. Amelia is a likable and relatable character. Teens will want to keep reading to find out the truth about her mother's past and if Sophie's home life is really all that it seems to be. They will be engaged with the gripping and suspenseful plot. VERDICT This is a must-have for any library collections where thrilling characters and a heart-racing story line are popular.--Trade Marshall, Xavier High School, Cedar Rapids, IA
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Marshall, Trade. "LIGHTON, Lisa & Laura Stropki. Now You See Her." School Library Journal,
Apr. 2018, p. 134+. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc /A533409095/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=977ed499. Accessed 9 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A533409095
2 of 2 6/8/18, 11:59 PM
NOW YOU SEE HER by Lisa Leighton
NOW YOU SEE HER
by Lisa Leighton & Laura Stropki
Age Range: 14 - 18
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KIRKUS REVIEW
A teenage tennis player wakes up after an attack and finds she’s in the body of her chief rival…or is she?
After losing a hard-fought match against golden girl Sophie Graham, whose life she follows on social media with great envy, Amelia Fischer remains second singles on her high school tennis team. When Amelia’s car breaks down on her way home, the stranger who at first seems to be offering help attacks her. Amelia passes out, waking up in the hospital where everyone is calling her “Sophie.” Looking in a mirror, she sees Sophie Graham’s face staring back at her. Amelia later sees her own body in a coma in another part of the hospital. Her confusion and distress continue when she returns to school, but Amelia learns to keep cool and bide her time as she struggles to unravel this mystery. Unnervingly, Amelia’s memories of her own life are fading: If she can just talk to her sister Mae, who is also her closest friend, she knows she can figure out what happened. But Mae’s resentment of Sophie is so extreme that Amelia can’t reason with her. The unraveling of this mystery involves exposing some of Sophie’s secrets and finding the man who attacked Amelia. All major characters are white.
Starting with a tantalizing premise, the plot idles for a long stretch before wowing the reader with an accelerated pace and ingenious solution. (Thriller. 14-18)
Pub Date: June 26th, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-242863-9
Page count: 320pp
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 20th, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1st, 2018