Please Ignore Vera Dietz

Eighteen-year-old Vera Dietz works full time as a pizza delivery technician while finishing her senior year of high school. Her former best friend Charlie is dead, but she sees his ghost everywhere and knows secrets about what really happened to him. Vera has spent years trying to distance herself from Charlie and his troubled home life, even as her own past with an absent mother and recovering alcoholic father shapes her present. The narrative moves between past and present, revealing the complexity of Vera and Charlie's friendship and its eventual unraveling. The small Pennsylvania town serves as both setting and character, with perspectives shifting between Vera, Charlie's ghost, Vera's father, and even the local pagoda - an abandoned landmark that watches over the community. Through multiple viewpoints and timelines, the story examines truth, perception, and the weight of keeping secrets. At its core, this is a novel about the challenge of defining oneself against family history and social expectations, while wrestling with questions of loyalty, grief, and what we owe to those we've lost.

Readers note the book's honest portrayal of grief, family dynamics, and teenage struggles. Many found Vera's voice authentic and relatable, with one reader calling it "raw without being melodramatic." Readers appreciated: - Complex father-daughter relationship - Non-linear storytelling structure - Dark humor throughout - Multiple narrative perspectives - Treatment of serious themes without condescension Common criticisms: - Slow pacing in the middle sections - Some found the pizza shop's perspective chapters unnecessary - Several readers felt the ending left too many questions unanswered Ratings: Goodreads: 3.98/5 (25,000+ ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (180+ reviews) Many young adult readers connected with Vera's working-class background and realistic teenage voice. One reviewer noted: "This isn't your typical YA novel about a perfect teen with perfect problems." Several readers mentioned struggling with the supernatural elements, calling them "jarring" within the otherwise realistic narrative.

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🌟 A.S. King wrote this novel after the death of her best friend, channeling her own experiences with grief and loss into the character of Vera Dietz 📚 The book earned a Michael L. Printz Honor Award in 2011, one of the most prestigious recognitions in young adult literature 🏭 The novel's setting was inspired by the author's hometown of Lititz, Pennsylvania, including its history of pretzel factories and manufacturing 💫 The story is told through multiple perspectives, including that of a pagoda building, making it one of the more uniquely narrated YA novels of its time 🎭 The character Charlie's paper dolls and shadow puppets were inspired by King's own artistic experiments with paper art during her time living in Ireland