Without a convenient rain-swept moor to flee to, Mary is forced to admit that real life doesn't follow the same rules as fiction and that if she wants a happy ending, she's going to have to write it herself. When some new friends seem in danger of falling for the same tricks employed since the days of Austen and Tolstoy, Mary swoops in to create the Scoundrel Survival Guide, using archetypes of literature's debonair bad boys to signal red flags.īut despite her best efforts, she soon finds herself unable to listen to her own good advice and falling for a supposed cad-the same one she warned her friends from whom to stay away. Mary Porter-Malcolm has prepared for high school in the one way she knows how: an extensive review of classic literature to help navigate the friendships, romantic liaisons, and overall drama she has come to expect from such an 'esteemed' institution. Without a convenient rain-swept moor to flee to, Mary is forced to admit that real life doesn’t follow the same rules as fiction and that if she wants a happy ending, she’s going to have to write it herself.In this clever YA rom-com debut perfect for fans of Kasie West and Ashley Poston, a teen obsessed with 19th-century literature tries to cull advice on life and love from her favorite classic heroines to disastrous results -especially when she falls for the school's resident Lothario.

But despite her best efforts, she soon finds herself unable to listen to her own good advice and falling for a supposed cad-the same one she warned her friends away from.

During her previous career in journalism, she wrote book reviews for The Washington. After a mostly coastal childhood, she now lives in Kansas with her husband, daughter, and cats. Amanda Sellet is the author of By the Book: A Novel of Prose and Cons. When some new friends seem in danger of falling for the same tricks employed since the days of Austen and Tolstoy, Mary swoops in to create the Scoundrel Survival Guide, using archetypes of literature’s debonair bad boys to signal red flags. Amanda Sellet had a previous career in journalism, during which she wrote book reviews for The Washington Post, personal essays for NPR, and music and movie coverage for VH1. Mary Porter-Malcolm has prepared for high school in the one way she knows how: an extensive review of classic literature to help navigate the friendships, romantic liaisons, and overall drama she has come to expect from such an “esteemed” institution. In this clever YA rom-com debut perfect for fans of Kasie West and Ashley Poston, a teen obsessed with nineteenth-century literature tries to cull advice on life and love from her favorite classic heroines to disastrous results-especially when she falls for the school’s resident Lothario.

By the book by amanda sellet