The people we become

A few years ago, my high school invited me in to speak to the girls. It’s an all-girls, Catholic high school, which saved me from the horrible, gropey boys of eighth grade (except for you, George, and you, Bruce). As is common, the kids asked incredibly thoughtful, original questions, but one really resonated. “What did you get out of going to this school?”

I didn’t have a prepared answer. I thought a few seconds and then said, “This is where I got a glimpse of the person I’d become.” Because it was only in high school that I started to think of myself as someone who as funny, fairly smart and…well…worth seeking out. I was a shy kid, which might make you laugh if you’ve met me as an adult, because that no longer applies at all. In high school, I felt a bit like a baby bird, poking my head out of the shell and taking a look around.

In The Me I Used to Be, I wrote about the Core Four, the girls who knew saw those glimpses of the people they’d become. How confident they were, how excited to get away, embrace their talents, create a future from scratch, even if that future meant coming back home. How much they believed in each other.

They witnessed each other’s first crushes, had the same horrible teacher, cheered each other on at basketball games and didn’t judge haircuts. Audrey, Micah, Beck and Jasmine are truly the best of friends.

But for a pretty huge reason, they haven’t spoken since graduation. But it’s their 25^th high school reunion, and the time has come. Not just for a bad DJ and watered down drinks in the high school gym…but to face the night that broke them apart and decide if, after all this time, they can forgive each other and, just for this weekend, remember the people they used be.

One weekend, an old flame or two, one more sleepover at Bittercreek Farm. And most of all, a last chance to put the past to rest and embrace the present, and the future with a whole heart, no matter what comes next.

The Me I Used to Be has a huge chunk of my heart in it, Readers. I hope you’ll love it. I hope you’ll laugh and cry and think about it for a long time.

All the best,

Kristan

“The Me I Used to Be is a two-tissue-box read (possibly three, just to be safe), but it’s not a tearjerker—there’s nothing gimmicky about it. This book confronts the complexities of friendship and love and ambition with honesty and heart as the characters learn to do the same. Required reading for everyone in midlife trying to make sense of where they are and where they want to be.” —Lauren Willig, New York Times bestselling author

At their twenty-fifth high school reunion, four former best friends discover that growing up is way messier than anticipated—and the past isn’t nearly as finished as they thought.​

Back in senior year, Audrey, Micah, Jasmine, and Beck were the Core Four: the lucky one, the beautiful one, the smart one, the sporty one. They had color-coded dreams, inside jokes, and a lifelong friendship they thought would last forever. But graduation night ended in a tragic accident, followed by the kind of silence that stretches for decades.​

Now, they’ve returned for their reunion, each carrying a life that looks nothing like the glossy future they imagined. There are stalled careers, complicated marriages, outspoken adult children, and secrets that never fit into holiday cards. For one of them, a diagnosis of early-onset dementia turns the weekend into a ticking clock.

Across one unforgettable weekend, the Core Four must decide if their past can still change their future together.