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Description
Annika Dietty thinks her future is with Dylan Sopick — until they run away together.
One day, after weeks of secret planning, seventeen-year-old Annika Dietty leaves home at dawn to run away with her boyfriend, the charming and popular Dylan Sopick. She tried telling her friends and family how amazing Dylan is, but seeing as they all seem set against the relationship, she’s decided their only chance is to run away together.
But not everything goes according to plan, and Dylan seems to be having more and more trouble dealing with every obstacle they encounter. At first Annika is sympathetic, knowing that he’s had a harder life than she has, but very soon Dylan’s behaviour becomes unsettling, and Annika realizes that her safety is at stake. She finally admits to herself that Dylan needs support that she can’t provide. She wants to get him help — if she’ll get the chance.
One day, after weeks of secret planning, seventeen-year-old Annika Dietty leaves home at dawn to run away with her boyfriend, the charming and popular Dylan Sopick. She tried telling her friends and family how amazing Dylan is, but seeing as they all seem set against the relationship, she’s decided their only chance is to run away together.
But not everything goes according to plan, and Dylan seems to be having more and more trouble dealing with every obstacle they encounter. At first Annika is sympathetic, knowing that he’s had a harder life than she has, but very soon Dylan’s behaviour becomes unsettling, and Annika realizes that her safety is at stake. She finally admits to herself that Dylan needs support that she can’t provide. She wants to get him help — if she’ll get the chance.
Author Bio
Kristine Scarrow is the author of young adult novels The 11th Hour,If This Is Home, and Throwaway Girl. She is currently the writer-in-residence at St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon, where she teaches writing as a healing art in the community. Kristine lives in Saskatoon.
Prizes
- Dewey Divas and the Dudes Winter 2018 PickCommended 2017
Review Quotes
The 11th Hour takes readers on an emotional rollercoaster from the opening page. The book is fluid and fast-paced as it cuts to the heart of what it means to be in love and yet to be lost. Told from alternating perspectives, the novel deepens our understanding of how terror slips like a thief into our ordinary lives. This riveting and dramatic read shows how we grapple with passion, freedom, fear and terrible, devastating choices.
— Alice Kuipers, author of Me (and) Me and Life on the Refrigerator Door
Scarrow’s novel captures the intensity of first love, and heightens that intensity by adding the impact of mental illness.
— Canadian Children’s Book News (Canada), review, Summer 2018 issue
A tremendous, eloquently written cautionary tale … heartbreaking and thought-provoking.
— Memoirs of a Bookwyrm
Paints a realistic picture of a person suffering from untreated mental illness … [A] suspenseful, realistic, and relatable read.
— Canadian Materials
A dark and harrowing read that examines the wildly passionate, wholly tedious, naive and often terrifying consequences of teen love, told at a bristling pace with honesty and heart.
— 49th Shelf
A gripping page-turner. The 11th Hour plummets readers into a crucible of teen love, angst and attitude, untreated mental illness, and the misguided faith that love will conquer all. This challenging novel builds layer upon layer, ever increasing the stakes right up to its shattering end.
— Alison Lohans, award-winning author of No Place for Kids and Picturing Alyssa
An honest and unflinching look at what it might be like to date someone suffering from untreated mental illness.
— Booklist
This novel presents important issues through effective and suspenseful narrative choices.
— Resource Links
Biographical note
Kristine Scarrow is the author of If This Is Home and Throwaway Girl. She is currently the writer-in-residence at Saskatoon's St. Paul’s Hospital as part of the Healing Arts Program. Kristine lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
