Accepting the pain and beauty of starting over is the focus of Emma Lord's coming-of-age novel "Begin Again." Being prepared is Andie Rose's specialty, and with her transfer to Blue Ridge State College, she already has a list of plans. Life quickly makes it clear that it has other plans, however. Right as Andie arrives, her boyfriend transfers, she doesn't know how to help her best friend for the first time, and all of Andie's notions about life are being uprooted by her frustratingly handsome RA. The only part of her plan that stays in place is her spot on the radio show her mother once worked at, but a blowup puts her most important goal — reconnecting with her mother's memory — at risk. If Andie wants to find her place in this new world, she'll have to face letting her old plans go.
Release date: Jan. 24
