“Jeff Zentner, you perfectly fill the John-Green-sized hole in our heart.” —Justine Magazine
“Evocative, heartbreaking, and beautifully written.” —Buzzfeed
“Masterful.” —Teen Vogue
“Tender, honest, moving, and lyrical. Zentner is the real thing.” —Benjamin Alire Sáenz, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and Printz Honor winner
An Indie Next List Selection
“Zentner does an excellent job in creating empathetic characters, especially his protagonist Carver, a budding writer whose first-person account of his plight is artful evidence of his talent.”—Booklist, Starred
“Racial tensions, spoiled reputations, and broken homes all play roles in an often raw meditation on grief and the futility of entertaining what-ifs when faced with awful, irreversible events.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred
“[E]xquisite and tragic.” –Shelf Awareness, Starred
“[A] novel full of wisdom.” —Kirkus
“[The] kind of intelligent, intense, and life-affirming tale that will resonate with teens seeking depth and honesty.” —SLJ
“An organic, frequently raw narrative.” –Horn Book
“Tissues not optional.” —The Bulletin
Praise for Jeff Zentner’s The Serpent King
A William C. Morris Award Winner
A New York Times Notable Book
An Amazon Best Book of the Year
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A BuzzFeed Best YA Book of the Year
An Indie Next List Top Ten Selection
A Paste Magazine and Popcrush Most Anticipated YA Book of the Year
A Publishers Weekly Spring Flying Start
“Move over, John Green; Zentner is coming for you.” —The New York Public Library
“Will fill the infinite space that was left in your chest after you finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” —Book Riot
“A story about friendship, family and forgiveness, it’s as funny and witty as it is utterly heartbreaking.” —Paste Magazine
“A brutally honest portrayal of teen life . . . [and] a love letter to the South from a man who really understands it.” —Mashable
“Zentner’s great achievement — particularly impressive for a first novel — is to make us believe three such different people could be friends. He also manages to blend a dank, oppressive, Flannery O’Connor-esque sense of place with humor and optimism …. I adored all three of these characters and the way they talked to and loved one another.” —New York Times Book Review
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