Maddy Spier has been in love with the boy next door forever. As his figure-skating partner she spends time in his arms every day. But she's also seen his arms around other girls - lots of other girls.Gabe can't imagine skating with anyone but Maddy, and together they have a real chance at winning some serious gold medals. So he's determined to keep thinking of her like a sister. After all, he's never had a romantic relationship that lasted for more than two weeks.But when their coach assigns a new romantic skating program, everything changes. Will this be the big break that Maddy's been hoping for or the big break-up that Gabe has always feared?

 

 

There are 305 pages in this book.

It 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 2015 by Pan Macmillan .

Katie Van Ark is a member of SCBWI and RWA and a student at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She enjoys reading, writing, and of course figure skating. She lives in Michigan with two daughters, two cats, and one very patient husband, who was also her high school sweetheart. THE BOY NEXT DOOR is her debut novel.