For every reader who grew up loving R.J. Palacio’s Wonder comes a hilarious, heartbreaking, and magical YA debut about what it means to accept the body you’re given.What if the empty space was what made you whole? Morgan Stone was born with a hole in her middle: a perfectly smooth, sealed, fist-sized chunk of nothing near her belly button. After seventeen years of hiding behind lumpy sweaters and a smart mouth, she decides to bare all. At first she feels liberated . . . until a few online photos snowball into a media frenzy. Now Morgan is desperate to return to her own strange version of normal—when only her doctors, her divorced parents, and her best friend, Caro, knew the truth.
Then a new doctor appears with a boy who may be both Morgan’s cure and her destiny. But what happens when you meet the person who is—literally—your perfect match? Is being whole really all it’s cracked up to be?
Kendra Fortmeyer received her MLS and MFA in fiction from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2016 she won a substantial grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation for her writing; she is a 2017 Pushcart Prize winner for her story “Things I Know to Be True,” and she’s a graduate of the Clarion SFF Writers’ Workshop class of 2016. Her short fiction has been published widely.
Hole in the Middle is her first novel. She lives in Austin.
Praise for Hole in the Middle
"Fortmeyer’s humor, sweetness and focus on sexual and medical consent are winning."
—The New York Times"Dazzling, one hundred percent believable, and laugh-out-loud funny. Kendra Fortmeyer has an admirably weird brain.”
—Kelly Link, author of the Pulitzer Prize Finalist Get in Trouble"An unabashedly feminist book [that] speaks directly to issues like body image and sexuality."
—The Rumpus"Incredibly different from most contemporary books that you see on bookstore shelves . . . Highly recommended, as the story is just too lovely to miss out on."
—The Nerd Daily"[A] powerful, witty, and funny tale, which integrates a sprinkle of magical realism into the mix."
—Publishers Weekly"An empowering, timely feminist read about bodily autonomy and one young woman's fight to keep control of hers."
—Kirkus Reviews "Fortmeyer's debut is a delightful blend of magical realism, body positivity, and feminism that raises the issue of whether we can be complete in ourselves."
—Booklist "
Hole in the Middle is poetic and peculiar: a story about discovering yourself in all your strange excesses and missing parts and learning how to show them to the world.”
—Heidi Heilig, bestselling author of The Girl from Everywhere "Kendra Fortmeyer's debut is more heart than holes, creatively brilliant, wacky and wise. An author to watch!”
—Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock, William C. Morris finalist and author of The Smell of Other People’s Houses "In this wildly imaginative page turner, Fortmeyer manages to sneak wisdom in with levity, profundity in with hilarity, and believability in with magic. She is a glowing talent to watch and follow.”
—Karim Dimechkie, author of Lifted by the Great Nothing
"Intriguing and innovative . . . The magical realist element allows for a sharp but never preachy take on body image, romance and internet culture . . . With this debut, Fortmeyer establishes herself as a writer to watch."
—The Irish Times"I loved it . . . This is a book that teenagers actually need to read."
—Love YA Like Crazy Podcast "I was blown away by Kendra's writing from page one."
—Reading, Writing and Me blog
