In "The Boy Next Door" by Katie Van Ark, high school senior and aspiring ballerina, Julia, finds her world turned upside down when her childhood neighbor, the boy she once adored, moves back into town. As they reconnect, Julia grapples with her past feelings and the pressures of her dance career. Their relationship grows complicated as they navigate friendship, love, and personal aspirations. With themes of self-discovery and the challenges of growing up, the story captures the bittersweet moments of young love and the importance of pursuing one's dreams amidst the trials of adolescence. [Generated by language model - please report any problems].

This book is aimed at children at US 7th grade-college freshman.

This book has been graded for interest at 12-18 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 2015 by Swoon Reads .

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.