JC Peterson breathes new life into Pride and Prejudice’s most infamous sibling, Lydia Bennet, proving that you can always start over no matter who you are.

LOLA, AT LAST
by JC Peterson
‎ HarperTeen, March 2023
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

Lola Barnes’ summer is not off to the best start. Fresh off a scandal that tanked her social status, Lola has somehow managed to also alienate her twin sister, lose the friends she thought she had, and put a… fiery end to the first party of the summer. (The boat was barely on fire, for the record—and all the partygoers were just fine.) Lola is given an ultimatum: jail time, or spending the summer with the nonprofit Hike Like a Girl. Everyone seems to expect Lola to fail. But even as Lola encounters bugs, blisters, and bears (oh my!), she finds something greater that she’s been missing all along: unexpected friends, a sweet romance, strength she didn’t know she had—and herself, Lola, at last.

Also available: BEING MARY BENNET (HarperTeen, March 2022)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that every bookworm secretly wishes to be Lizzy Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. With a hilariously sharp voice, a sweet and fulfilling romance that features a meet-cute in an animal shelter, and a big family that revels in causing big problems, this charming comedy of errors about a girl who resolves to become the main character of her own story (at any and all costs), is perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Becky Albertalli…and Jane Austen, of course.

“Literary references, friendship, family drama, adorable dogs—this book has it all! Fans of Jane Austen will eat up this playful contemporary homage to Pride and Prejudice.” – School Library Journal

JC Peterson is a YA writer based in Denver, CO. She grew up surrounded by the lakes in Michigan and earned her degree in journalism from Michigan State University. She’s steadily worked her way west, living for a stint in Oklahoma City (fewer lakes but more buffalo) before settling in Denver (fewer buffalo but more mountains). JC writes witty young adult novels about found family and fans of cardigans. Her debut, Being Mary Bennet publishes by HarperTeen in March 2022. When not writing, she loves to hike, shop + eat local, and travel with her husband and two children