Paperback cover design: Theresa Evangelista
Hardback design: Theresa Evangelista // Illustrations: Yuschav Arly
Victor Benucci and Madeline Falco have a story to tell. It begins with the death of Vic’s father. It ends with the murder of Mad’s uncle. The Hackensack Police Department would very much like to hear it. But in order to tell their story, Vic and Mad must focus on all the chapters in between. This is a story about:
1. A coded mission to scatter ashes across New Jersey.
2. The momentous nature of the Palisades in winter.
3. One dormant submarine.
4. Two songs about flowers.
5. Being cool in the traditional sense.
6. Sunsets & ice cream & orchards & graveyards.
7. Simultaneous extreme opposites.
8. A narrow escape from a war-torn country.
9. A story collector.
10. How to listen to someone who does not talk.
11. Falling in love with a painting.
12. Falling in love with a song.
13. Falling in love.
A New York Times Bestseller
“Arnold's funny and touching second novel is about many things: making peace with the past; the families we create; abstract painting; and what it means to be a 'genuine heart-thinker'. . . Arnold has a talent for stringing words together in just the right, jumbled order. His sentences are arrows." —The New York Times Book Review
"Funny, sweet, utterly heart-wrenching." —Entertainment Weekly
"[In] David Arnold's follow-up to last year's wonderful Mosquitoland... Arnold continues to show mastery in crafting relatable teens struggling with dark circumstances... They're a highly enjoyable bunch of outsiders." —USA Today
A Junior Library Guild selection, an ABA Indies Choice Young Adult Honor book, & a Kids' Indie Next List Top Ten Pick
★ "Showcases a memorable cast of outsiders carving out space for themselves . . . Arnold writes with a Hinton-esque depth and rawness, building Mad and Vic's stories with practiced patience." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly, Amazon, Southern Living, YALSA, & Bank Street CBC
“A gorgeous, insightful, big-hearted joy of a book. Kids of Appetite made me fall in love with the world a little bit more.” —Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sun is Also a Star and Everything, Everything
“Kids of Appetite is one of the most honest, emotional, human books I have ever read. You will feel it. This one's a life-changer.” —Becky Albertalli, Morris Award-winning author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
★ "Luminous and deeply affecting... Beautifully written with compelling voices, evocative allusions and metaphors, and pithy aphorisms, this offers the sentimental cleansing (the kind that comes with tears) that books do best, admirably living up to Mad's own favorite book, The Outsiders, in its path through tragedy to blessing." —BCCB (starred review)
"Spot-on pacing and lovely wordsmithing. Sophisticated teen readers will love this." —Kirkus Reviews
"Arnold’s prose is sharp and observant, his pacing restrained, revealing each character’s backstory gradually while also setting up a murder investigation that keeps readers guessing until the second it doesn’t. Vic constantly refers to life revelations from his father, including the idea of “simultaneous extreme opposites”—a concept that, given all the laugh-cries to be had in his emotionally well-wrought novel, Arnold motherfrakking nails." —The Horn Book Review
"Arnold offers a heartfelt tale that entwines ferocity with quirk, loss with first love, and beauty with asymmetry . . . Philosophical teens drawn to themes of belonging will revel in his latest." —Booklist
"A big-hearted book that will make you feel nostalgic for your teen years, Kids of Appetite will leave you cry-laughing until the very last page." —Brit & Co.
"Passion, honesty and energy radiate off every page of this memorable book." —Justine Magazine
"A great book." —VOYA
"[a] gorgeously written book whose characters will stay with you long after you've finished reading." —BuzzFeed
"With Kids of Appetite, [Arnold] brings the same intense emotion and stunning prose that made Mosquitoland such a perfect book, and takes on some bigger challenges." —Book Riot
"Raw, honest, and incredibly affecting." —Bustle
"Equal parts S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders and The Breakfast Club... Every line is purposeful, and Arnold's sentence craftsmanship is perfection." —Clarion-Ledger
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