What I Was von Meg Rosoff

I'd been kicked out of two boarding schools and the last thing I wanted was to be here, on the East Anglian coast, in a third. But without St. Oswald's, I would not have discovered the fisherman's hut with its roaring fire, its striped blankets, its sea monster stew. Without St. Oswald's, I would not have met the boy with the beautiful eyes, the flickering half-smile, and no past. Without St. Oswald's, I would not have met Finn. And without Finn, there would be no story.

Meg Rosoff had three or four careers in publishing and advertising before writing her highly acclaimed first novel, How I Live Now. She moved from New York City to London in 1989, where she lives with her husband and daughter. What I Was is her third novel, after How I Live Now and Just in Case, for which she was awarded the Carnegie Medal.