The Importance of Being Wilde at Heart
Readers of Adam Silvera (They Both Die at the End) and Elizabeth Acevedo (The Poet X) will pull out the tissues for this tender, quirky story of one seventeen-year-old boy's journey through first love and first heartbreak, guided by his personal hero, Oscar Wilde.
Words have always been more than enough for Ken Z, but when he meets Ran at the mall food court, everything changes. Beautiful, mysterious Ran opens the door to a number of…
An Excerpt fromThe Importance of Being Wilde at Heart
There are two ways to begin this story.
a haiku
LITTLE MIRACLES
Inside a minute—
A blue-throated hummingbird’s One thousand heartbeats.
OR
a prayer
Dear Oscar Wilde,
Patron Saint of Rebels and Bookworms:
This is Ken Z. I’m seventeen years old, a senior at South Kristol High. I live on an island in the middle of Nowhere, Pacific Ocean. So tiny you need a magnifying glass to spot us on the map.
Oscar, I met someone. There. It’s out. Whew. Yes, I met someone earlier this week, and this morning, I woke up to my heart beating a thousand hummingbird heartbeats. It felt new and strange, and anything new and strange to me is worth exploring, like Antarctica. I don’t know where my heart is zooming to. So if you could, please guide me through this unfamiliar map.
Your forever devotee, Ken Z
PS His name is Ran.