A YEAR TO THE DAY

In stores now from HarperTeen

EVERY ENDING HAS A BEGINNING

National Book Award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author Robin Benway returns with a story of love, loss, and sisterhood reminiscent of I’ll Give You the Sun and Every Day. Told in a reverse chronological narrative, Robin Benway’s signature exploration of love, family, and finding yourself is on display in her most ambitious story yet.

Read the first three chapters now!

It’s been a year - a year of missing Nina.

Leo can’t remember what happened the night of the accident. All she knows is that she left the party with her older sister, Nina, and Nina’s boyfriend, East. And now Nina is dead, killed by a drunk driver and leaving Leo with a hole inside her that’s impossible to fill.

East, who loved Nina almost as much as Leo did, is the person who seems to most understand how she feels, and the two form a friendship based on their shared grief. But as she struggles to remember what happened, Leo discovers that East remembers every detail of the accident--and he won't tell her anything about it. In fact, he refuses to talk about that night at all.

As the days tumble one into the next, Leo’s story comes together while her world falls apart. How can she move on if she never knows what really happened that night? And is happiness even possible in a world without Nina?

PRAISE FOR A YEAR TO THE DAY

Bookpage Best YA Books of 2022

“A Year to the Day is simultaneously gut-wrenching and heartening, as grief and love so often are. Its unusual structure effectively relates a timeless story in a new and engaging way as Benway offers beautiful, profound reflections on loss, healing and forgiveness. Ultimately, Leo’s story is a lesson in self-compassion and hope, reminding readers that moving forward doesn’t mean forgetting the past, and although love can be painful, it’s worth holding on to.”
– Bookpage (starred review)

"The backward chronology is a bold and worthy experiment. We step away from the novel carrying a secret — we now know what Leo might never remember — and thus we feel complicit in withholding the devastating truth. Ultimately, A Year to the Day is a moving exploration of how the mind both punishes and protects, and a reminder of how fortunate we are to love and be loved, even if only for a short time.”
– The New York Times

“As the clock winds back and details slowly emerge, Benway highlights pivotal days throughout the year, rendering a persuasive portrait of heartache and loss….Suspense, unanswered questions, and raw emotion blend together in an honest examination of one family’s varying symptoms and stages of grief.”
– Publishers Weekly

"Authentic, often sarcastically funny dialogue and texts bring a lightness and grim humor to interactions Leo has with East and others. Her divorced parents and stepmother are poignantly developed secondary characters, and the intricate dynamics of Leo’s relationships with each of them underscore the ripple effect that occurs in families following a tragic loss. An intelligent, compassionate examination of a family enduring a nightmare.”
– Kirkus Reviews

"The novel keeps a tight focus on Leo herself, allowing her to be relatable in both her growth and grief, while the third-person voice keeps the deepest heartbreak at a distance. The unique storytelling structure builds tension by slowly revealing small details of Leo’s past year, placing in sharp relief the one big thing she cannot recount. East, then, emerges as Leo’s most potent foil, since he remembers what she does not, including a truth revealed in the shattering final chapters, one that might be foreseeable but is an emotional gut punch nonetheless.”
– Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books

“A nuanced, sensitive capture of a devastating event and the life beyond it.”
– Booklist