Sam

Praise

“Allegra Goodman knows. She knows families, their griefs and rages, their love and loss: complicated parents and complicated children. In Sam, she goes deep into the heart and soul and voice of one girl. Sam is a deeply wise and empathetic portrait of this unforgettable girl, making her way into this tricky world and into the reader’s life.”—Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of In Love

“Sam is one of the most evocative and tender examinations of youth that I’ve ever read, and Allegra Goodman fully understands the strange and dreamlike qualities of Sam’s world as she tries to navigate it, populated by adults who mean well but complicate every single moment. One of the best writers around, Goodman has made something truly beautiful, evoking a feeling that is hard to name but stirs inside us with every line.”—Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here

“What seems at first to be a simple coming-of-age story deepens under its own weight and shows itself to be a beautiful meditation on all the ways we love and fail each other. I was moved by the cumulative power of Sam, and I’m still rooting for the characters.”—Ann Napolitano, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Edward

“Sam is about as perfect of a coming-of-age story I have ever read. It explores what happens when one girl loses the wonder of childhood—the innocence of her early years only to reclaim her power and hope. Although it is a story of one girl, it will take all readers back to their own youth. I fell into this novel and read it in one sitting.”—Jenna Bush Hager, Today

“A sensitive portrait of life lived along the poverty line in modern-day America. Allegra Goodman offers a . . . sympathetic reflection on the struggles of a girl’s life. Anyone who has ever been the focus of a child’s impossibly inflated regard will feel alternately charmed and gutted by [Sam].”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“Allegra Goodman’s Sam stands out among realistic coming-of-age novels about contemporary American girlhood. Sam’s struggles aren’t uncommon, but the way Goodman imbues them with weight and clarity is. We care deeply how Sam’s story turns out, thanks to Goodman’s brilliance and empathy.”—Bookpage

“Goodman does a marvelous job of depicting this world of struggle and sacrifice, exhaustion and addiction, with neither condescension nor exaggeration. I admired Goodman’s empathy, wisdom, and commitment to telling the story of one ostensibly simple but ultimately meaningful life.”—Priscilla Gilman, The Boston Globe

“Bracing . . . Sam’s . . . travails gain heft through [Allegra] Goodman’s perceptiveness, specificity regarding Sam’s emotions, and arresting turns of phrase. It’s impressive how much emotional power is packed into this . . . contained story.”—Publishers Weekly