Heather

Whitney Cousins #1

by Jean Thesman

After living alone with her widowed mother for twelve years, fifteen-year-old Heather struggles to adjust to a strange new stepfamily and a strange new town

Genres: Young Adult

10 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1990

About the author

Jean Thesman was a widely read and award-winning American author known for her young adult fiction, with a career spanning over 25 years. Her novels often explored themes of family, identity, and belonging, frequently featuring heroines who find their place in the world by uncovering truths about their families and forming chosen connections. “I loved telling the story,” she once wrote, “because I really believed that families were made up of the people you wanted, not the people you were stuck with.”
Born with a passion for storytelling and literacy, she learned to read before starting school and recalled having to wait until she was six years old before being allowed her first library card. Throughout her career, she authored around 40 books, most under her own name but a few under the pseudonym T.J. Bradstreet.
Thesman published a wide range of novels for teens and middle-grade readers, including stand-alone works such as The Rain Catchers, Calling the Swan, and Cattail Moon, as well as series like The Whitney Cousins, The Birthday Girls, and The Elliott Cousins. Her lyrical style, emotional depth, and strong female characters earned her a loyal readership. Notable works like The Ornament Tree and In the House of the Queen’s Beasts remain particularly admired for their nuanced storytelling and emotional resonance.
She was a longtime resident of Washington state and an active member of The Authors Guild and the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Jean Thesman passed away in 2016 at the age of 86, leaving behind a significant legacy in young adult literature.

Reviews

[Asadullah]

i want to read this book. can anyone help me to provide this book in PDF format.

[Marian · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was younger, the local libraries seemed to only have Amelia's book though I have vague memories of maybe seeing the cover of this one. I never did get to read it until a friend sold me her copies of the books.

That said, if I'd read them in the proper order with Heather being first, I'd probably have liked Heather (the book and maybe the character?) more. As it is, she spends the whole book being upset that things aren't the way she imagined them to be instead of working with what she has, maybe getting things closer to what she'd hoped for. Which is probably fairly realistic but it's maddening to read at times.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED this book when I was a kid.