"Out of Nowhere" by Maria Padian tells the story of a teenage boy, Tom, whose life takes an unexpected turn when a tragic incident at school brings the community together in both unity and chaos. As tensions rise between different cultural groups following the event, Tom finds himself at the center of a conflict that challenges his beliefs about friendship, loyalty, and understanding. Through his relationships with friends and rivals alike, Tom navigates the complexities of adolescence, grappling with issues of identity, prejudice, and the power of empathy in healing a fractured community. [Generated by language model - please report any problems].

This book is the winner of numerous awards

This book is aimed at children at US 7th grade+.

This book has been graded for interest at 12 years.

There are 337 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 2013 by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers .

Maria Padian has a bachelor's degree from Middlebury College and a master's degree from the University of Virginia. She is a freelance writer, essayist, and author of young adult novels, including Brett McCarthy: Work in Progress, Jersey Tomatoes Are the Best, and Out of Nowhere . Maria lives with her family in Brunswick, Maine. Visit her online at mariapadian. com and find her on Twitter: @mpadian.