'Matt Donaghy has always been a big mouth'

But its never got him into trouble - until one day when two detectives escort him out of class for questioning. The charge? Matt has been accused of threatening to blow up Rocky River High School.

'Ursula Riggs has always been an ugly girl'

She has no time for petty high-school stuff like friends and dating. Ursula is content with minding her own business. And she doesn't even really know Matt Donaghy.

But Ursula knows injustice when she sees it
And she's not afraid to speak out.

'Every single Oates novel I've read has added to my conviction that she is a genius.'
Julie Myerson, 'Independent on Sunday'

Joyce Carol Oates is a novelist, critic, playwright, poet and author of short stories and one of America's most respected literary figures. She has written some of the most enduring fiction of our time, including We Were the Mulvaneys and Blonde. She is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Princeton University and a recipient of the National Book Award and the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction.