I know youll hate me. I just know you will. But I cant help it. Im going to find you. Matts mam left home when he was 10. He writes letters to her but doesnt send them. He keeps them in his Gone Book, which he hides in his room. Five years of letters about his life. Five years of hurt. Matts dad wont talk about her. His older brother is mixed up with drugs and messing with dangerous characters. His friends, Mikey and Anna, are the best thing in his life, but Matt keeps pushing them away. All Matt wants to do is skate, surf, and forget. But now his mam is back in town and Matt knows he needs to find her, to finally deliver the truth.

 

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards

This book has been graded for interest at 14 years.

This book is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed. This book was published in 2021 by Little Island .

Helena Close was born in Cork in 1959 but moved to Limerick at the age of five. She attended UCG where she studied English and Sociology and has worked in a variety of jobs while rearing her four children. She has been writing full time for the past eight years and has co written four books with her best friend Trisha Rainsford. Her own first novel, Pinhead Duffy, was published in 2005. The Cut of Love is her second novel.