It's not what you steal.
It's getting away with it that's so much fun.

Poppy Browne is none too thrilled to be the new girl in Pleasant Acres, Texas--especially after her mother enrolls her in a private Baptist school. But to her delight, Poppy is pulled into the cool clique on her first day at Calvary High, and her new friends, Mary Jane and Whitney, are as genuinely nice as they are gorgeous and rich.

The catch? Her new pals have a nasty shoplifting habit, and before long Poppy is also a theft enthusiast. But when the girls' addictions get out of hand and friendships are threatened, it's up to Poppy to set things right ....

Simon Pulse, June 2010
Trade Paperback
ISBN 978-1-4169-9048-2
Ages: 14 and up
Grades: 9 and up

Talk about LIFTED

"When high school sophomore Poppy's professor mother relocates them from Boulder, Colo.--where Poppy hung out with the tattooed, anti-conformist crowd--to Pleasant Acres, Tex., where she's to attend a Baptist high school, Poppy is surprised to find herself taken under the wing of two of the most popular girls in school. Poppy's mother is happy to see her with clean-cut new friends, but polished, polite Whitney and Mary Jane have a secret: they love to shoplift. Soon Poppy is stealing from stores and juggling a couple of romantic interests, including the preacher's son. Toliver (the Romantic Comedies series) adeptly captures Poppy's conflict between wanting to do what's right and the rush she gets from lifting, which is underscored by the tension between her independent streak and her relief and appreciation over finding new friends so easily. Mary Jane's complicated history with another student takes the story to its climax, as Poppy has to decide who her friends are and who she is. Poppy is an appealing, relatable protagonist, though secondary characters can be one-dimensional; the ending is pat but satisfying." Ages 14 - up.
-- Publisher's Weekly

“Smart, deftly written, and extremely well-observed, Wendy Toliver’s Lifted is so realistic and moving I felt like I was transported right inside Poppy’s world, watching as she struggled to navigate her way through a school where appearances are deceiving and no one is quite what they seem. A hard to put down, compelling read!” -- Alyson Noël, #1 New York Times Best Selling author of The Immortals series

"Lifted is the story of an imperfect heroine seeking her place not only in school, but in life. Its exploration of the amount of truth behind social and religious stereotypes escalates into a double-dog dare to believe them. A haunting morality tale that will leave you questioning just what it means to be "good." -- Aprilynne Pike, author of the #1 New York Times Best-Selling novel Wings.

"Lifted by Wendy Toliver is an amazing, compelling read, filled with all the realness of being in high school, from humor to love to angst. I haven't met a character so well developed as Poppy since reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. At times heartbreaking, at others uplifting, Lifted is a book that I absolutely loved." -- James Dashner, author of The Maze Runner and the13th Reality series