I Know It's Over - intro & reviews

BOOKS

I Know It's Over Pure. Unplanned. Perfect. Those were Nick's summer plans before Sasha stepped into the picture. With the collateral damage from his parent's divorce still settling and Dani (his girl of the moment) up for nearly anything, complications are the last thing he needs.

All that changes, though, when Nick runs into Sasha at the beach in July. Suddenly he's neck-deep in a relationship and surprised to find he doesn't mind in the least. But Nick's world shifts again when Sasha breaks up with him. Then weeks later, while Nick's still reeling from the breakup, she turns up at his doorstep and tells him she's pregnant, and with his emotions and hopes crashing in around him, Nick finds himself struggling once more to understand the girl he can't stop caring for, the girl who insists that it's still over.

Beautifully written, richly layered, and intensely readable, first-time author C.K. Kelly Martin's I Know It's Over shows how high first love can take us, and how great its loss can be, in this passionate, powerful and heartbreakingly honest debut.

Distinctions

The New York Public Library's Stuff for the Teen Age 2009 list

Kirkus Reviews Best Young-Adult Books of 2008 list

Cybils 2008 Young Adult Fiction Finalist

Nominated for ALA Teen Quick Picks list 2009 and ALA Best Books for Young Adults list 09

Included in the 2008-2009 CanLit for Teens list of recommended books for high school libraries

Reviews

I Know It's Over (paperback) Authentic and sophisticated.
— Kirkus Reviews, Starred review

Debut novelist Martin displays uncanny insight, replacing the issue-driven engine common to most pregnant-teen stories with an emotionally complex and disarmingly frank coming-of-age tale.
— Publishers Weekly, Starred review

Without a trace of hysteria or overwrought sensibility, Nick's layers are peeled back with unstinting honesty as he works through the seldom-explored guy's side of first (embarrassing, fumbling) sex, a wounding breakup, and teen pregnancy.
— The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

This full-throttle novel totally nails teenage romance — the dizzying depths of infatuation and the inevitable heartbreak.
— Denver Post

C.K. Kelly Martin’s first young adult novel is frank to the point of almost being brutal and yet so sincere that readers are totally immersed in the main characters and suffer the highs and lows of their relationship right along with them...Some critics may find this novel too gritty and detailed for teen readers, but I applaud Martin for her intelligent characters and her sensitive portrayal of their honest reactions and emotions. Highly Recommended.
— Canadian Review of Materials, **** /4

With heartbreaking honesty, Martin's debut novel gets into the mind of 16-year-old Nick Severson...His story challenges stereotypical notions of reckless teen sex and careless abortions; teen boys will especially applaud this portrayal of a devastated and conflicted young man who makes the right decisions, but still finds that his mistakes have repercussions.
— School Library Journal

In this rare book that plumbs a boy's emotional roller coaster when a relationship comes to an end, Martin succinctly captures Nick's ferocious sense of helplessness...When Sasha finally makes a choice, Nick shines—as does this debut.
— Chicago Tribune

The complexities of love lost/regained make for an outstanding selection for older YA readers.
— Midwest Book Review

Readers will connect with Nick's emotional struggle and find him a very likable character. The book is quick paced, well written, and will appeal to a wide audience. Martin expertly handles the sexual content, depicting first time sexual exploration in a refreshingly realistic way. It is a perfect book to use as a springboard fordiscussing teenage relationships, sex and pregnancy.
— Children's Literature

Every one of the readers will wish they could find someone like Nick to fall in love with. As YA novels go, this one is frank about sex—desire, control, contraception, and the pain when love doesn't work out between two people who truly care for one another. The details of the pregnancy, telling parents and close friends, the decision to have an abortion, the abortion itself and the aftermath—Martin doesn't shy away from anything.
— KLIATT

I Know It's Over, Random House Books for Young Readers

Watch the book trailer
Read Chapter One