Here So Far Away

The bigger the secret, the harder you fall

Tough girl George Warren has finally found someone she wants to hold on to, when lately it seems like she’s only been pushing people away. But he's the wrong guy for her, and they both know it. If she lets herself, George could fall recklessly in love. She could also lose everything.

Book Q&As

Praise

"Brave and funny and tender."
— Kit Pearson, author of A Day of Signs and Wonders

“Honest and real and breathing.”
—Teresa Toten, author of Beware That Girl

“This novel is astonishing — smart and philosophical, lyrical and page-turning, with sentences that thrum with life and meaning. As George’s defenses softened, so did my own. I loved this story of complicated families and friendships, and an even more complex romance; of how the people we fall in love with shape and change us, especially when that love breaks the rules. This is a sad, funny, heartbreaking, and beautiful book.”
— Margo Rabb, author of Kissing in America

“I love it when I get the chance to read a novel all in one day. In the case of Here So Far Away there was no choice in the matter: I had to keep reading, had to know Georgie girl’s fate. Luckily, Dyer makes it impossible to put the book down. How can her writing be so laugh-out-loud funny and nervy and lyrical and poignant and riveting at the same time? This is a gorgeous read, so wonder-full of surprises.”
— Tim Wynne-Jones, author of The Emperor of Any Place

“A refreshing and engrossing tale about an illicit romance, sure to be a page-turner for teens. The voices are authentic and witty — hats off to Dyer.”
— Susin Nielsen, author of We Are All Made of Molecules

"Empathetic, comforting and wise . . . It's poetic realism at its finest, with the romance folded into a bigger, subtler theme of putting up blinders to future pain for the sake of enjoying something oh-so-tremendous in the present (which also happens to be the definition of adolescence). There's heartbreak and loss, including a much-needed acknowledgment of the real struggles of acid reflux, but you'll feel pleasantly wrung out and better off for experiencing it."
— The Globe and Mail

“This is a lush, romantic Romance, a tale of star-crossed lovers in its own 1990s, set on the shore of the Bay of Fundy, way. Dyer depicts first passion and love with a precise, delicate hand; at the same time, her narrator George is irreverent, ironic and wonderfully earthy, a girl whose familiarity with rural Maritime life colours both language and sense of self. Robust in wisdom and sparkling in word play, this is a thoroughly satisfying read.”
— Toronto Star

"A deeply felt romance constructed with equal respect to both sides, this love story is bittersweet like a Joseph Monninger novel, and equally hard to forget."
— School Library Journal

"As the romantic and personal tensions build, readers are drawn irresistibly into George’s emotional ride. Dyer’s prose captures the adolescent tone effortlessly, and the dialogue is sharp and amusing without descending into artificiality . . . Highly recommended."
— CM Magazine

"With unpredictable plot twists and an entertaining streak of sarcasm, Dyer explores the blurred lines between right and wrong and the risks and dangers of an all-encompassing love."
— Booklist

"Here So Far Away is, at times, a painful read. But the anguish is rewarded by the powerful truths it reveals about the nature of love, and the arduous process of becoming an adult."
— Amy Mathers, National Reading Campaign

"The strength of this novel is George, an engaging combination of strength and emotion, of witty comebacks and philosophical contemplation, of immature teen stupidity and mature regret. In other words, a true teenager that we can travel with as she becomes a young woman."
— Resource Links

"Dyer writes with an authentic voice, like she has captured the very tortured soul of being a teenage girl . . . and in the end creates a heartbreaking novel dealing with secrets, loss and the mess that arises from not living truthfully."
— Atlantic Books Today

“Evocative and literary.”
— Kirkus Reviews