Last Year With Maddy

Can best friends Aviva and Maddy survive the hardest year of their lives without each other?

Twelve-year-olds Maddy Li-Quinn and Aviva Adelman are the best of friends, innately connected through their love of the arts: Aviva loves to read poetry and Maddy is a gifted violinist. However, over the course of a painful year, very different family struggles drive the two girls apart. Maddy encounters violence in the home, and Aviva’s baby brother faces a difficult diagnosis. 

To cope with the stress, Aviva’s mother suggests she write a book about her friendship with Maddy. In an attempt to heal through the written word, Aviva becomes the funny, feisty protagonist of her own book, reflecting back on her life, and realizing that she, too, has made many mistakes along the way.

Advance Praise for Last Year With Maddy

“Last Year With Maddy is a raw, honest and heartfelt book about the power of friendship and forgiveness. Aviva’s voice is pitch-perfect as she comes to terms with what happened in the last year between her and her best friend, Maddy. Both girls navigate difficult moments in their lives, and neither are perfect in how they try to support one another. But it’s in their imperfections that the reader recognizes their humanity, and their love for each other. This book is full of heart and hope.” –Sidura Ludwig, award-winning author of Swan: The Girl Who Grew

“Rosner has produced a layered and nuanced narrative in Last Year with Maddy with the musicality of an orchestral symphony. Readers will experience piercing high notes and resonant lows, not just from Aviva’s story but from each character as they perform in sometimes sad, angry, joyful, but always hopeful concert.” –Paul Coccia, award-winning author of Recommended Reading