Although this story is told from the point of view of a seventy-five-year-old writer, it’s all about seventeen-year old Karl, who is in love with Fiorella. Karl has sought out the assistance of a local writer of young adult novels because he needs help: Fiorella has asked him to give her written responses to several questions so she can determine whether he is worthy of her love. Karl, a dyslexic, feels incapable, and the writer is willing to help him but he has to get to know him first—something that’s hard to do because Karl is inarticulate and not exactly forthcoming. Gradually, through their growing friendship, and frequent fishing trips, he learns that Karl is still grieving the death of his father years earlier and that he’s uncertain about his future. He’s happily working as a plumber’s assistant, but he has a secret urge to create sculptures. Karl’s character is revealed slowly and mostly through dialogue, through the probing, often amusing, philosophical exchanges between him and the writer. Ultimately, the story explores the role of art in a world that doesn’t understand it or care about it, and both Karl and the author grow as a result of their friendship. (Age 14 and older)

A teenager discovers his voice in this contemporary love story from “one of young adult literature’s greatest living writers” (Booklist).
 
Shy teenager Karl is desperately in love with his girlfriend, Fiorella, a literary enthusiast who’s asked him to write her a letter in which he reveals his true self. There’s just one problem . . . Karl is dyslexic.
 
Convinced that his attempts to express himself with words will end in disaster, Karl tracks down Fiorella’s favorite novelist and begs him to take up the task. The famous writer unexpectedly agrees, but on one condition: Karl must participate in a series of interviews so the author can pen an authentic portrait of his affections. What follows is a series of misunderstandings, a startling revelation, and an unusual bond that will change all three of their lives.
 
A moving story of love and friendship, Dying to Know You is the perfect novel for “that cloudy expanse between older teenager and younger adult, a novel that doesn’t pretend to advise, but merely sees its characters for who they really are” (The Guardian).
 
“This quietly understated performance captures the wistfulness of music in a minor key.” —Kirkus Reviews