Empress of the World

A LAMBADA BOOK AWARD FINALIST • A secluded summer camp filled with brilliant minds and intense emotions sets the stage for an unforgettable queer coming-of-age novel.

“Both controversial and long-awaited, this helps to fill a need that is painfully obvious and introduces a wonderful new voice.”—Kirkus Reviews

“I love this this book. Utterly brilliant, utterly beautiful.”—Lauren Myracle, author of TTYL and TTFN

Nicola Lancaster is spending the summer at the Siegel Institute Summer Program for Gifted Youth—a hothouse of smart, articulate, intense teenagers. Nic’s had theater friends and orchestra friends, but never just friend friends. And she’s certainly never had a relationship. But on the very first day, she falls in with Katrina the Manic Computer Chick, Isaac the Nice-Guy-Despite-Himself . . . and Battle. Battle Hall Davies, a beautiful blonde dancer from North Carolina, is everything Nic isn’t. Soon the two are friends—and then, startlingly, more than friends. What do you do when you think you’re attracted to guys, and then you meet a girl who steals your heart?

Continue the story in Rules for Hearts, where a vibrant summer unfolds as Battle Hall Davies finds herself immersed in the quirky found family dynamics of Forest House.