About the Book:
Title: R.I.P. ELIZA HART
Author: Alyssa B. Sheinmel
Pub. Date: November 28, 2017
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 336
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Find it: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, TBD, Goodreads
When Eliza Hart, the most popular girl at Ventana Ranch boarding school, is found dead on the cliffs outside her dormitory, Ellie Sokoloff is determined to figure out what happened to her. After all, Eliza was Ellie’s childhood best friend.
Never mind that ever since Ellie arrived at school Eliza has spread terrible rumors about her, calling her a liar and a stalker, when all Ellie wanted to do was rekindle their old friendship. Or that Ellie’s claustrophobia limits where she can go and what she can do. Or that Ellie’s suitemate, Sam, is the only one who will help her . . . because to everyone else, Ellie looks like the top suspect.
Can Ellie clear her name and solve the mystery behind Eliza’s death? Her hunt for the truth will uncover secrets she never imagined, sending her deep into her own memories of her childhood with Eliza Hart.
New York Times bestselling author Alyssa Sheinmel delivers a gripping mystery and a sensitive and moving examination of the secrets that can hold us back—and even destroy us.
EXCERPT
ELLIE
Wednesday, march 16
When I find out that it’s her, a lump rises in my throat and I’m so surprised that it almost chokes me. I shouldn’t care. I mean, I care because caring is the human thing to do, but I shouldn’t care this much because I didn’t really know her. Not really. Not anymore.
We’re still standing by the window. In fact, we’ve barely moved since Sam’s phone dinged with a text from a friend outside who heard the dean identify the body.
I wipe my eyes, but that just draws more attention to my tears. Sam offers me a tissue, but I bet he thinks I don’t deserve to cry.
“You okay, Elizabeth?”
They put her on a gurney, zip her into a black bag, and wheel her into the back of an ambulance.
“We held hands during recess.”
“What?”
I bend my fingers, pressing my nails into my palms so my hands will stop shaking. Like everyone else on campus, Sam’s heard the rumors about Eliza and me. I think even the teachers are wary of me thanks to her. But maybe Sam doesn’t remember them, maybe they went in one ear and out the other like my repeated requests that he call me Ellie instead of Elizabeth.
“Nothing,” I say carefully. “I don’t know.”
Sam’s phone buzzes with another text. “Cooper says someone called the police when they saw something strange out there.”
“I just can’t believe it.”
She wasn’t in Spanish class this afternoon (the one class we have together), but I didn’t think much of it. Arden Lin, one of her roommates and best friends, said she had a cold.
“Is she okay?” I’d asked. Stupid. I should’ve kept my mouth shut. I couldn’t help it. It was a reflex.
“Why?” Arden asked. “You wanna bring her some chicken soup? Can’t help noticing that when I was sick a few months ago, you didn’t seem so concerned.”
“¡En español!” Señora Rocha admonished, oblivious to the fact that Arden was making fun of me. She made us repeat the whole conversation. Arden didn’t know how to say chicken soup in Spanish. While Señora Rocha clucked her disapproval, Arden stared daggers at me.
Now Sam says, “I can’t believe it, either.” He takes a deep breath, his black T-shirt stretching over the muscles in his chest. “She didn’t seem the type.”
“What type?”
He shrugs. “I guess you never can tell. I read somewhere that in half of all suicides, the friends and family say they never had a clue. I thought they were just trying to cover up their guilt, you know? But maybe—”
I interrupt before he can finish his thought. “You think Eliza Hart killed herself?”
About Alyssa B. Sheinmel
I was born in Stanford, California, and even though I moved across the country to New York when I was six years old, I still think of myself as a California girl.
Like so many writers, I grew up loving books. I loved stories so much that when there was nothing to read, I wrote my own stories just to give myself something to read. And when there was no pen and paper to be had, I made up stories and acted them out by myself. I played all the parts, and I was never bored.
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Giveaway Details:
3 winners will receive a finished copy of R.I.P. ELIZA HART, US Only.
Rafflecopter link:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e2389ba2670/?
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
11/20/2017- The Cover Contessa– Interview
11/21/2017- Hauntedbybooks13– Review
11/22/2017- A Gingerly Review– Excerpt
11/23/2017- Here’s to Happy Endings– Review
11/24/2017- BookHounds YA– Interview
Week Two:
11/27/2017- Bibliobakes– Review
11/28/2017- Savings in Seconds– Review
11/29/2017- Book-Keeping– Review
11/30/2017- Books at Dawn– Excerpt
12/1/2017- Owl always be reading– Review
A Gingerly Review 
Thanks for the excerpt. I am now wondering who this character was and why she died. I have to find out. This sounds like my kind of book to read.
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