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The Rules for Hearts: A Family Drama

by Sara Ryan

Family, identity, and a summer in Portland

Regular price $12.76 USD
Regular price $21.27 USD Sale price $12.76 USD
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Paperback New English

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AlbakiReads Editorial

Family, identity, and a summer in Portland

Set in a Portland group house, Sara Ryan’s companion novel to *Empress of the World* brings Battle Hall Davies into a lively shared household during the summer before college. Her brother Nick’s return draws family ties into the story, while Forest House’s community Shakespeare production and late-night card games give Battle new ways to connect with the people around her. Her growing relationship with housemate Meryl accompanies questions about how well Battle knows her brother—and herself. The novel brings together sibling dynamics, queer identity, and the makeshift bonds of a found family within a summer shaped by change.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Teens and young adults interested in family relationships and coming-of-age stories.
  • Readers seeking fiction that explores queer identity and relationships.
  • Those drawn to stories about group households and found-family dynamics.

Themes

Sibling relationshipsQueer identityComing of ageFound familyCommunity theater

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

In this companion novel to Empress of the World, a vibrant summer unfolds as Battle Hall Davies finds herself immersed in the quirky found family dynamics of Forest House.

"The Rules for Hearts makes its own rules. That's what I love about it."--Lauren Myracle, New York Times bestselling author of TTYL and TTFN

"Sara Ryan puts the world of downtown theater in all its brilliance and insanity on the page."--Jacqueline Woodson, Newbery Honor-winning author of Feathers and Show Way

Battle Hall Davies is sure of some things: she's going to Reed this fall; she loves girls; and her older brother, Nick, is cooler and more together than she'll ever be. Nick ran away from home when Battle was thirteen. Now, four and a half years later, he's tracked her down, and she's spending the summer between high school and college in Forest House, the group house where he lives in Portland.

It is a summer of surprises. Battle is swept into Forest House's community Shakespeare production and its all-night card games and into the arms of her new housemate, Meryl. It turns out that Nick is not who Battle thought he was--and Battle's not who she thought she was either.
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