Optimists Die First

Award-winning author Susin Nielsen's brilliant new novel explores heartbreak and tragedy in the way only she can - with a big dose of humour, sarcasm ... and lots of cats.

Petula's pessimistic world is turned upside down when she meets Jacob, an optimist with a long-hidden secret.

Petula has avoided friendship and happiness ever since tragedy struck her family and took her beloved younger sister Maxine. Worse, Petula blames herself. If only she'd kept an eye on her sister, if only she'd sewn the button Maxine choked on better, if only...

Now her anxiety is getting out of control, she is forced to attend the world’s most hopeless art therapy class. But one day, in walks the Bionic Man: a charming, amazingly tall newcomer called Jacob, who is also an amputee. Petula's ready to freeze him out, just like she did with her former best friend, but when she’s paired with Jacob for a class project, there’s no denying they have brilliant ideas together – ideas like remaking Wuthering Heights with cats.

But Petula and Jacob each have desperately painful secrets in their pasts – and when the truth comes out, there’s no way Petula is ready for it.

Review by Sarah McDuling

Optimists Die First is a super fun and very adorable romance with oodles of quirky charm and a whole lot of heart! It's definitely the kind of book that will tug on your heartstrings and leave you blinking away happy tears.

Petula is burdened by the heavy weight of grief and guilt after suffering a terrible family tragedy. She is a pessimist who sees danger everywhere and is so crippled by anxiety that she is afraid of living her life.

Then she meets Jacob, a boy with a cheerful, optimistic attitude. Jacob is determined to show Petula that the world doesn't have to be such a frightening place. Jacob has endured tragedy in his past but has found a way to remain positive. The optimist and the pessimist may be a mismatched couple, but it doesn't take long for fledging love to bloom!

Optimists Die First is funny, whimsical, sweet, romantic and just a little bit heartbreaking... and has everything from cat videos, crafting, bionic arms and Kate Bush! From the author of We Are All Made of Molecules , this book is bound to appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen, John Green and Robyn Schneider.

About the Author

Susin Nielsen got her start feeding cast and crew on the popular television series, Degrassi Junior High. They hated her food, but they saw a spark in her writing. Nielsen went on to pen sixteen episodes of the hit TV show. Since then, Nielsen has written for many Canadian TV series. Nielsen’s first two young adult novels, Word Nerd and Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom, received critical acclaim and multiple Young Readers’ Choice Awards.

The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen won the prestigious Governor General’s Literary Award, the Canadian Library Association’s Children’s Book of the Year and many Young Readers’ Choice Awards. She lives in Vancouver with her family and two extremely destructive cats.