The How & the Why

"Cynthia Hand is the master of pulling at your heartstrings. The How & the Why tells both sides of an adoption story with love, compassion, and care." —Brigid Kemmerer, New York Times bestselling author of Letters to the Lost

A poignant exploration of family and the ties that bind, from New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand.

Cassandra McMurtrey has the best parents a girl could ask for; they’ve given Cass a life she wouldn’t trade for the world. She has everything she needs—but she has questions, too. Like, to know who she is. Where she came from. Questions about her family secrets that her adoptive parents can’t answer, no matter how much they love her.

But eighteen years ago, someone wrote Cass a series of letters. And they may just hold the answers Cass has been searching for.

Told in a unique dual narrative, alternating between Cass’s search for answers and letters from the pregnant teen who placed her for adoption, this emotionally resonant YA contemporary novel is the perfect read for fans of Nina LaCour and Jandy Nelson.

What happens when the only person who holds the keys to your past is a voice from eighteen years ago?

• A Heartfelt Adoption Story: Told from the perspectives of both the adopted daughter, Cass, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, and the teenage birth mother who wrote her a series of letters years ago.
• The Search for Identity: Cass has the perfect life and loving parents, but she can’t answer the biggest questions: Who is she, and where did she come from?
• A Story Told in Letters: As Cass reads the letters left for her, she begins to piece together the heartbreaking, brave, and complicated story of the young woman who gave her up.
• Complex Mother-Daughter Relationships: An emotional exploration of the unbreakable bond between mothers and daughters—both the ones who raise you and the ones who bring you into the world.