On Invisibility by Marieke Nijkamp #DiversityMonth

Marieke Nijkamp was born and raised in the Netherlands. A lifelong student of stories, language, and ideas, she is more or less proficient in about a dozen languages and holds degrees in philosophy, history, and medieval studies. She is a storyteller, dreamer, globe-trotter, geek. Her debut young adult novel This Is Where It Ends, a contemporary story that follows four teens over the course of the fifty-four minutes of a school shooting, will be published by Sourcebooks Fire in January 2016.

She is the founder of DiversifYA and a senior VP of We Need Diverse Books. Find her on Twitter.

On Invisibility
by Marieke Nijkamp

Here’s what you do not see when you look at me:
The dreams I hold closest to my heart,
The words with which I interpret the world,
The stories I’m telling in the back of my mind,
Not yet ready to share.
The braces that hold my joints together:
Knees, ankles, elbows, wrists.

Here’s what you do not see when you look at me:
The hope I cling to,
The stubbornness on bad days,
The defiance on good,
The nine pills I took this morning to be able.
The eight (at least) I’ve still to take.

Here’s what you do not see when you look at me:
The fear I’ve learned to hide,
The anxiety I’ve learned to hide,
The stimming I’ve learned to hide,
The pain I’ve learned to hide.

Here’s what you do not want to see when you look at me:
The cane I used for more than a decade,
(Lucky, my arms hurt too much these days)
The scars, the tears, the difference.
The scars, the tears, the difference.
The scars, the tears, the difference.

The pride with which I carry them all.

Here’s who you do not see when you look at me.

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10:00 a.m.
The principal of Opportunity, Alabama’s high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m.
The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03
The auditorium doors won’t open.

10:05
Someone starts shooting.

Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival..

Expected publication:
January 5th 2016 by Sourcebooks Fire

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Pre-order This Is Where It Ends here:

Amazon.co.uk …………. Amazon.com ………… Book Depository