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Book Cover for: Before and After You and Me, Dallas Woodburn

Before and After You and Me

Dallas Woodburn

Emma blames herself when a freak accident at a pool party leaves Hunter, the town's rising track star and her former boyfriend, paralyzed from the waist down. As she struggles with anxiety, loneliness and regret, she begins to obsessively paint portraits of legs and feet-Hunter's legs and feet-and for the first time receives critical acclaim and notice for her artwork.


But what started as therapeutic for Emma ends up deepening her guilt. Does creating meaningful art require retreating inward toward self-expression, or striving outward toward recognition-or can it somehow be both?


Searching for one whole, authentic identity, Emma grapples with love, ambition, grief, homecoming, and-ultimately-redemption.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Owl Hollow Press, LLC
  • Publish Date: May 7th, 2024
  • Pages: 334
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.00in - 5.00in - 0.75in - 0.80lb
  • EAN: 9781958109489
  • Recommended age: 14-18
  • Categories: Social Themes - Death, Grief, BereavementRomance - ContemporarySocial Themes - Friendship

About the Author

Woodburn, Dallas: - Dallas Woodburn's debut novel The Best Week That Never Happened was the Grand Prize Winner of the Dante Rossetti Book Award for Young Adult Fiction. She is also the author of the YA novel Thanks, Carissa, For Ruining My Life and the short story collections Woman, Running Late, in a Dress and How to Make Paper When the World is Ending.A former John Steinbeck Fellow in Creative Writing, her writing has been honored with the Cypress & Pine Short Fiction Award, the international Glass Woman Prize, and four Pushcart Prize nominations.When she's not writing, Dallas hosts the Thriving Authors Podcast, teaches writing classes for teens and adults, and unapologetically bakes pumpkin-spice everything all year round. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and daughters.

Praise for this book

"Before and After You and Me is a gorgeously crafted story of first loves and first losses, and how we grow from our grief, through vulnerability, time, and creative expression." -Tara K. Ross, Fade to White


"Before & After You & Me is a masterclass on alternating timelines. The story is woven together so intricately, the characters painted with such a deft hand, that it's like watching the author piece together a puzzle of a beautiful and unexpected work of art, one unique piece at a time." -Jen Marie Hawkins, The Language of Cherries


"An inspiring and heartwarming exploration of self-discovery and forgiveness, Dallas Woodburn reminds us of the transformative power of embracing our past and giving ourselves the space to heal and grow." -Genalea Barker, Life After


"...gut-wrenching, raw and real. If it's possible for a book to break your heart and mend it at the same time,

Dallas Woodburn's story does just that." -Rebecca Bischoff, Hole in the Rock