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A New York Times Bestseller

“Here are three things about this book: (1) It’s . . . funny and romantic; (2) the mystery at the heart of the story will keep you turning the pages; (3) I have a feeling you’ll be very happy you read it.” —Jennifer E. Smith, author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

With the perfect mix of comedy and tragedy, love and loss, and pain and elation, the characters in Julie Buxbaum’s Tell Me Three Things come to feel like old friends who make any day better. This YA novel is sure to appeal to fans of Rainbow Rowell, Jennifer Niven, and E. Lockhart.

Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to live with her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son, and to start at a new school where she knows no one.

Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?

In a leap of faith—or an act of complete desperation—Jessie begins to rely on SN, and SN quickly becomes her lifeline and closest ally. Jessie can’t help wanting to meet SN in person. But are some mysteries better left unsolved?

More praise for TELL ME THREE THINGS

“Three Things about this novel: (1) I loved it. (2) No, really, I LOVED it. (3) I wish I could tell every teen to read it. Buxbaum’s book sounds, reads, breathes, worries, and soars like real adolescents do.” —Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of Leaving Time and Off the Page

“The desire to find out whether Jessie’s real-life and virtual crushes are one and the same will keep [readers] turning the pages as quickly as possible.” —PW, Starred

“A heartfelt, wryly perceptive account of coming to terms with irrevocable loss when life itself means inevitable change.” —Kirkus

“Buxbaum’s debut is hard to put down because of its smooth and captivating text. The addition of virtual conversations through email and chatting adds to the exciting plot twist.” —SLJ

Review

"Here are three things about this book: (1) It's sweet and funny and romantic; (2) the mystery at the heart of the story will keep you turning the pages; (3) I have a feeling you'll be very happy you read it."—Jennifer E. Smith, author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

"The desire to find out whether Jessie's real-life and virtual crushes are one and the same will keep [readers] turning the pages as quickly as possible."--Publishers Weekly, Starred

"A heartfelt, wryly perceptive account of coming to terms with irrevocable loss when life itself means inevitable change."—Kirkus Reviews

"Buxbaum's debut is hard to put down because of its smooth and captivating text. The addition of virtual conversations through email and chatting adds to the exciting plot twist."--SLJ

"Buxbaum adds layered plotlines about grief, family, and the confusion and hardships of growing up, all with a touch of humor and romance. A solid YA debut."--Booklist

About the Author

1. JULIE BUXBAUM is the author of the critically acclaimed The Opposite of Love and After You, and her work has been translated into twenty-five languages. Tell Me Three Things is her first novel for young adults. 2. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two young children, and an immortal goldfish. 3. Julie once received an anonymous email, which inspired Jessie’s story.

Visit Julie online at juliebuxbaum.com and follow @juliebux on Twitter, where she doesn’t list everything in groups of three.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

9780553535648|excerpt

Buxbaum / TELL ME THREE THINGS

Chapter 1

Seven hundred and thirty-three days after my mom died, forty-five days after my dad eloped with a stranger he met on the Internet, thirty days after we then up and moved to California, and only seven days after starting as a junior at a brand-new school where I know approximately no one, an email arrives. Which would be weird, an anonymous letter just popping up like that in my in-box, signed with the bizarre alias Somebody Nobody, no less, except my life has become so unrecognizable lately that nothing feels shocking anymore. It took until now—seven hundred and thirty-three whole days in which I’ve felt the opposite of normal—for me to discover this one important life lesson: turns out you can grow immune to weird.

To: Jessie A. Holmes (jesster567@gmail.com)

From: Somebody Nobody (somebodynobo@gmail.com)

Subject: your Wood Valley H.S. spirit guide

hey there, Ms. Holmes. we haven’t met irl, and I’m not sure we ever will. I mean, we probably will at some point—maybe I’ll ask you the time or something equally mundane and beneath both of us—but we’ll never actually get to know each other, at least not in any sort of real way that matters . . . which is why I figured I’d email you under the cloak of anonymity.

and yes, I realize I’m a sixteen-year-old guy who just used the words “cloak of anonymity.” and so there it is already: reason #1 why you’ll never get to know my real name. I could never live the shame of that pretentiousness down.

“cloak of anonymity”? seriously?

and yes, I also realize that most people would have just texted, but couldn’t figure out how to do that without telling you who I am.

I have been watching you at school. not in a creepy way. though I wonder if even using the word “creepy” by definition makes me creepy? anyhow, it’s just . . . you intrigue me. you must have noticed already that our school is a wasteland of mostly blond, vacant-eyed Barbies and Kens, and something about you—not just your newness, because sure, the rest of us have all been going to school together since the age of five—but something about the way you move and talk and actually don’t talk but watch all of us like we are part of some bizarre National Geographic documentary makes me think that you might be different from all the other idiots at school.

you make me want to know what goes on in that head of yours. I’ll be honest: I’m not usually interested in the contents of other people’s heads. my own is work enough.

the whole point of this email is to offer my expertise. sorry to be the bearer of bad news: navigating the wilds of Wood Valley High School ain’t easy. this place may look all warm and welcoming, with our yoga and meditation and reading corners and coffee cart (excuse me: Koffee Kart), but like every other high school in America (or maybe even worse), this place is a freaking war zone.

and so I hereby offer up myself as your virtual spirit guide. feel free to ask any question (except of course my identity), and I’ll do my best to answer: who to befriend (short list), who to stay away from (longer list), why you shouldn’t eat the veggie burgers from the cafeteria (long story that you don’t want to know involving jock jizz), how to get an A in Mrs. Stewart’s class, and why you should never sit near Ken Abernathy (flatulence issue). Oh, and be careful in gym. Mr. Shackleman makes all the pretty girls run extra laps so he can look at their asses.

that feels like enough information for now.

and fwiw, welcome to the jungle.

yours truly, Somebody Nobody

To: Somebody Nobody (somebodynobo@gmail.com)

From: Jessie A. Holmes (jesster567@gmail.com)

Subject: Elaborate hoax?

SN: Is this for real? Or is this some sort of initiation prank, à la a dumb rom-com? You’re going to coax me into sharing my deepest, darkest thoughts/fears, and then, BAM, when I least expect it, you’ll post them on Tumblr and I’ll be the laughingstock of WVHS? If so, you’re messing with the wrong girl. I have a black belt in karate. I can take care of myself.

If not a joke, thanks for your offer, but no thanks. I want to be an embedded journalist one day. Might as well get used to war zones now. And anyhow, I’m from Chicago. I think I can handle the Valley.

To: Jessie A. Holmes (jesster567@gmail.com)

From: Somebody Nobody (somebodynobo@gmail.com)

Subject: not a hoax, elaborate or otherwise

promise this isn’t a prank. and I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a rom-com. shocking, I know. hope this doesn’t reveal some great deficiency in my character.

you do know journalism is a dying field, right? maybe you should aspire to be a war blogger.

To: Somebody Nobody (somebodynobo@gmail.com)

From: Jessie A. Holmes (jesster567@gmail.com)

Subject: Specifically targeted spam?

Very funny. Wait, is there really sperm in the veggie burgers?

To: Jessie A. Holmes (jesster567@gmail.com)

From: Somebody Nobody (somebodynobo@gmail.com)

Subject: you, Jessie Holmes, have won $100,000,000 from a Nigerian prince.

not just sperm but sweaty lacrosse sperm.

I’d avoid the meat loaf too, just to be on the safe side. in fact, stay out of the cafeteria altogether. that shit will give you salmonella.

To: Somebody Nobody (somebodynobo@gmail.com)

From: Jessie A. Holmes (jesster567@gmail.com)

Subject: Will send my bank account details ASAP.

who are you?

To: Jessie A. Holmes (jesster567@gmail.com)

From: Somebody Nobody (somebodynobo@gmail.com)

Subject: and copy of birth certificate & driver’s license, please.

nope. not going to happen.

To: Somebody Nobody (somebodynobo@gmail.com)

From: Jessie A. Holmes (jesster567@gmail.com)

Subject: And, of course, you need my social security number too, right?

Fine. But tell me this at least: what’s up with the lack of capital letters? Your shift key broken?

To: Jessie A. Holmes (jesster567@gmail.com)

From: Somebody Nobody (somebodynobo@gmail.com)

Subject: and height and weight, please

terminally lazy.

To: Somebody Nobody (somebodynobo@gmail.com)

From: Jessie A. Holmes (jesster567@gmail.com)

Subject: NOW you’re getting personal.

Lazy and verbose. Interesting combo. And yet you do take the time to capitalize proper nouns?

To: Jessie A. Holmes (jesster567@gmail.com)

From: Somebody Nobody (somebodynobo@gmail.com)

Subject: and mother’s maiden name

I’m not a complete philistine.

To: Somebody Nobody (somebodynobo@gmail.com)

From: Jessie A. Holmes (jesster567@gmail.com)

Subject: Lazy, verbose, AND nosy

“Philistine” is a big word for a teenage guy.

To: Jessie A. Holmes (jesster567@gmail.com)

From: Somebody Nobody (somebodynobo@gmail.com)

Subject: lazy, verbose, nosy, and . . . handsome

that’s not the only thing that’s . . . whew. caught myself from making the obvious joke just in time. you totally set me up, and I almost blew it.

To: Somebody Nobody (somebodynobo@gmail.com)

From: Jessie A. Holmes (jesster567@gmail.com)

Subject: Lazy, verbose, nosy, handsome, and . . . modest

That’s what she said.

See, that’s the thing with email. I’d never say something like that in person. Crude. Suggestive. Like I am the kind of girl who could pull off that kind of joke. Who, face to face with an actual member of the male species, would know how to flirt, and flip my hair, and, if it came to it, know how to do much more than kiss. (For the record, I do know how to kiss. I’m not saying I’d ace an AP exam on the subject or, you know, win Olympic gold, but I’m pretty sure I’m not awful. I know this purely by way of comparison. Adam Kravitz. Ninth grade. Him: all slobber and angry, rhythmic tongue, like a zombie trying to eat my head. Me: all-too-willing participant, with three days of face chafing.)

Email is much like an ADD diagnosis. Guaranteed extra time on the test. In real life, I constantly rework conversations after the fact in my head, edit them until I’ve perfected my witty, lighthearted, effortless banter—all the stuff that seems to come naturally to other girls. A waste of time, of course, because by then I’m way too late. In the Venn diagram of my life, my imagined personality and my real personality have never converged. Over email and text, though, I am given those few additional beats I need to be the better, edited version of myself. To be that girl in the glorious intersection.

I should be more careful. I realize that now. That’s what she said. Really? Can’t decide if I sound like a frat boy or a slut; either way, I don’t sound like me. More importantly, I have no idea who I am writing to. Unlikely that SN truly is some do-gooder who feels sorry for the new girl. Or better yet, a secret admirer. Because of course that’s straight where my brain went, the result of a lifetime of devouring too many romantic comedies and reading too many improbable books. Why do you think I kissed Adam Kravitz? He was my neighbor back in Chicago. What better story is there than the girl who discovers that true love has been waiting right next door all along? Of course, my neighbor turned out to be a zombie with carbonated saliva, but no matter. Live and learn.

Surely SN is a cruel joke. He’s probably not even a he. Just a mean girl preying on the weak. Because let’s face it: I am weak. Possibly even pathetic. I lied. I don’t have a black belt in karate. I am not tough. Until last month, I thought I was. I really did. Life threw its punches, I got shat on, but I took it in the mouth, to mix my metaphors. Or not. Sometimes it felt just like getting shat on in the mouth. My only point of pride: no one saw me cry. And then I became the new girl at WVHS, in this weird area called the Valley, which is in Los Angeles but not in Los Angeles or something like that, and I ended up here because my dad married this rich lady who smells like fancy almonds, and juice costs twelve dollars here, and I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore.

I am as lost and confused and alone as I have ever been. No, high school will never be a time I look back on fondly. My mom once told me that the world is divided into two kinds of people: the ones who love their high school years and the ones who spend the next decade recovering from them. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, she said.

But something did kill her, and I’m not stronger. So go figure; maybe there’s a third kind of person: the ones who never recover from high school at all.

Review:

4.7 out of 5

94.29% of customers are satisfied

5.0 out of 5 stars Spoilers ahead...

C. · May 4, 2021

Sometimes in life, you come across a book that is just so good and leaves you smiling for hours after you read it, and Tell Me Three Things is a book like that my friends. And because of that, my actual review is going to be littered with spoilers, so read at your own risk!.....................Our story starts with Jessie, who's just moved to California from Chicago because her dad remarried after her mom died, receiving an email from Somebody Nobody (or SN for short) offering her help and advice to settle into her new school. SN is sweet, thoughtful, and intriguing, and soon they leave their email conversation behind and begin IMing. SN knows who Jessie is, but Jessie has no idea who SN is. As she deals with coping with her mom's death, moving across the country, her new stepmother and brother, and dealing with being the new kid, she also tries to discover the identity of SN. Will the identity be obvious to you, the reader? Yes. Of course. This is YA, not rocket science. And if you have an issue with knowing the ending before it happens, then this genre isn't for you. Just like if you have issues with "lots of girl-on-girl hate" as multiple reviews called it, then YA probably isn't the genre for you. She's 16. And has runs in with mean girls who call her names in class and trip her so hard she bruises her face. So yeah, Jessie isn't Gem's biggest fan. Shock-er.I loved how real the issues were in this book, and how well written the teens were as they dealt with them. It seems to be a trend in YA to have more explicit scenes (which I am so not a fan of), but the way that sex was handled in this book was more realistic (still not 100% necessary for the plot, but whatevs). It was raw, it was confusing, it was... everything it would be if 2 16 year olds are discussing it - which, fyi it's Jessie and her best friend Scarlett discussing if Scarlett should have sex with her new boyfriend, and one of Jessie's new friends discussing her experience. Jessie seemed to have this air of maturity about her as she discussed sex with the various friends and in how she handled coping with her mother's death. It's definitely a tear jerker topic, but the author handles it oh-so-perfectly.I adored the character development. On Jessie's quest to discover SN's identity and adjust to new life in CA, she meets 2 new girlfriends (one, per SN's suggestion) and 3 boys. Unlike other reviewers have suggested, there really isn't a love triangle here. Jessie begins to fall for SN, thinks rando Caleb could be SN, starts to like Ethan after they pair up for an English assignment, and starts to maybe, kind of, sort of form an awkward friendship with Liam. She obviously sees SN in everyone, and uses any small clue to try and guess his identity. So again, yes the identity of SN is obvious to the reader (or at least, it's obvious that it's not Caleb), but that's not really the point.The point is to follow a girl through her story, and the author does a brilliant job at steering us through it. The characters, the insecurities, the texting and emailing, it was all just so good!I loved the three things SN and Jessie would share back and forth! Such a cute way to get to know someone new (and then fall for them). I loved the bond that was forged between SN and Jessie, Jessie and her new friends, and Jessie and the new boys. I loved the back and forth of Jessie's feelings as she tried to discover who SN really is. I even loved the awkwardness of all three of the potential SNs showing up when she was finally meeting him. I felt Jessie's nerves as she's trying to get out of answering Liam's question and graple with disappointment thinking he's the SN she's been falling for. I felt Ethan's panic as he realizes what took place right before he arrived and tries to save the situation before Jessie answers. I loved it. It was done so well.Pretty much the only thing I did not love about this book was the ending. It was poetic and perfect, and exactly what the story called for. I just happen to be very selfish and would like more. Like, a lot more. An epilogue would've been nice, but another 2 or so chapters would've been better. I want to know more! I want to see more! I want to see Jessie and Ethan both get a happy ending beyond just their first, sweet kiss. What's the real beef the boys have? What happens to Ethan's mom? How does the meeting of the parents go? What about school? Do things get better for Jessie now that she's with Ethan and officially not interested in Liam? Can I just get a liiiiiitle bit more time with them as a couple? Pretty, pretty puh-leaseeeee? I swear I would still walk away with a satisfied smile on my face.(As a side note, her English teacher really bothered me as a young teacher myself. Everyone can hear Gem coughing her insults and the teacher never once says, "Enough"? Like... okay...? It made me cringe. Some obviously gets tripped in her class, and she asks not the tripper, but the trip to stay behind and talk to her? No, no, no, no. No. And then the way she talked to Jessie the first time... ugh. I'm glad she apologized, but like, lady, come on.)Bottom line is this: it's a story that deals with some heavy topics, and it handles them really well. It's also a book that just plain nails being YA literature. It is sweet, and raw, and authentic. I highly recommend it. To you, to my girlfriends, and to my students.

4.0 out of 5 stars Because a Nobody is always a Somebody

D. · December 14, 2016

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum4.5 stars!!!“In the Venn diagram of my life, my imagined personality and my real personality have never converged. Over email and text, though, I am given those few additional beats I need to be the better, edited version of myself. To be that girl in the glorious intersection.”I love a good YA, despite my forty-two years of age. When a YA is done well, age is just a number and the story has the capacity to transport you back to your teens and this is what Julie Buxbaum did. This book was the perfect balance of emotion, banter and wit and with poetic prose that keeps those pages turning you will find yourself turning the last page before you know it or want it.“Maybe home doesn’t have to be a place.”Jessie’s mother died two years ago, she thought that was the worst of it, but her father drops a doozie, he has eloped, got married and now they need to pack their bags and move to Chicago to move into the home of her step-mother and her son. Leaving the home she loves and her friends behind Jessie is despondent especially when she sees what a far cry from her norm her step-mothers home really is.“One of the worst parts about someone dying is thinking back to all those times you didn’t ask the right questions, all those times you stupidly assumed you’d have all the time in the world. And this too: how all that time feels like not much time at all. What’s left feels like something manufactured. The overexposed ghosts of memories.”With a mansion, a fancy private school, a pain in the arse step brother and a step mother that just keeps trying Jessie feels like one tiny little fish in an ocean of posh, entitled sharks. Jessie struggles to fit in at school, friendship dynamics that have been born since birth and social standing are hard to infiltrate and with cliques as tight as theirs Jessie was fighting a losing battle. The new girl is the easy target.“Welcome. To. The. Jungle.”Fresh blood in school means new eye candy and it isn’t long before Jessie captures unwanted attention, but it seems she has found an ally, if only she knew who it was. “Somebody Nobody” is her intel, a friend who wishes to remain anonymous and gives Jessie the lay of the land, who to trust and who to befriend. They soon become fast friends communicating only through words, but it is these words that Jessie becomes reliant upon and the more they communicate the more she wants to know who it is.“Perfect days are for people with small, realizable dreams. Or maybe for all of us, they just happen in retrospect; they’re only now perfect because they contain something irrevocably and irretrievably lost.”This was a fantastic read, I adored everything about it and while I “knew” who “Somebody Nobody” was I wasn’t really, truly sure until the reveal happened. You know who want it to be, but the thought of it not being them was heart breaking.“He’s more like me, I think: burdened with the realization that what goes on in his mind is somehow different from what goes on in everyone else’s. Even those closest to us.”Julie Buxbaum perfectly navigates school life and that constant ache to fit in, to be somebody, to be seen for who you really are, not what people want to see. The difficulties of life after death on both child and lone parent and the impact moving on really has. But most of all it was about friendships, the companionships, the highs and lows and finally about love. Getting to know that someone so deeply, without a face, without an image, to sway perceptions…know the person first. Adored it!!“Tell me three things…”

Inglês facil de entender

C.l.e.f.s.i.E.r.a.c.é.r.t.a.a.e.a.t.c.p.d.d.t.c.e.f.e.c.m.o.m.o.D.P.t.c.e.t.f.r.m.n.p.a.s.r.q.s.c.".e.n.p.a.d.t.p.p.a.t.E.l.é.u.o.d.a.a.m. · March 25, 2024

The media could not be loaded. A ideia de ter comprado esse livro foi para treinar a leitura na língua inglesa. Ainda não finalizei a história, mas aprendi muuuito, a leitura é fácil mas ajuda bastante aos que vem tentando aprimorar a compreensão, possui dialogos entre os personagens. A leitura te prende o enredo é envolvente,e surpreende. considero o livro como um romance adolescente, é uma leitura bem gostosa.

Buy it right now

J. · August 28, 2021

BUY IT RIGHT NOW OMG SUCH A GOOD BOOKIf you’ve ever read “my heart and other black holes” you will LOVE this book. Sometimes it’s easy to predict the ending of a book but this one kept your mind invested until the end!!!!🤍🤍

État du livre

O. · October 14, 2022

Un peu déçue de l'état du livre avec les coins abîmé et le coup de crayon sur le livre mais bon c'est juste du petit détail :)

Alles super gelaufen

O. · November 26, 2021

Alles super gelaufen. Es gab keine Komplikationen alles gut gelaufen

En tres pasos te enamoras de la historia

R. · June 28, 2019

Me encantó TODO

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Tell Me Three Things

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