You’re probably wondering how I ended up here. I’m still wondering the same thing.
Olivia, Kelly, Christopher, Jason, and Eva have one thing in common: They’re addicts. Addicts who have hit rock bottom and been stuck together in rehab to face their problems, face sobriety, and face themselves. None of them wants to be there. None of them wants to confront the truths about their pasts. And they certainly don’t want to share their darkest secrets and most desperate fears with a room of strangers. But they’ll all have to deal with themselves and one another if they want to learn how to live. Because when you get that high, there’s nowhere to go but down, down, down.
Praise for Clean
“With deep, sympathetic characters and beautiful prose, CLEAN cuts to the heart. It’s poignant and real. I can’t stop thinking about it.”
Lisa McMann, best-selling author of the Wake trilogy and Cryer’s Cross
“An affecting drama about five teenagers in an upscale rehab facility for drug addiction. The author handles complex issues deftly and honestly, from family dysfunction to attempted rape….The hard-hitting scenarios and abundance of white space make this a perfect suggestion for Ellen Hopkins fans.”
Kirkus Reviews
“Delivers some emotional and smart insights….The use of multiple narrators results in a briskly paced, vignette-driven story that suits the frenetic lives of the teens.”
Publisher’s Weekly
“While not all young addicts are fortunate enough to receive and succeed at rehab, this is a thoughtful portrait of those who do, and it offers hope for what often seems a hopeless situation.”
The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“A quick, frank read, with humor, information, and action that will keep teens interested. Those who read Reed’s Beautiful–and even those who haven’t–will be drawn to the great cover, and fans of Ellen Hopkins will love this novel.”
School Library Journal
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2011 Junior Library Guild Selection
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2012 ALA/YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Nominee
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2012 ALA/YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers
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2012 Northern California Book Award in Children’s Literature-YA Nominee
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Bank Street Book Committee Best Children’s Book of the Year Selection
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2013-14 Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award List Selection
My Favorite Reviews, Interviews, and Other Fun Stuff
Reviews
- …from A Work of Fiction
- …from Anxirium
- …from Blabbing Books
- …from Dana Sitar
- …from Figment Review
- …from Frenzy of Noise
- …from Stacked
- …from Willa’s Ramblings
- …from YA Bliss
- …from YA Highway
- …from Young Adult Smash
- …from Book Twirps
- …from Books Devoured
- …from Lari is Writing
- …from Letters Inside Out
- …from The Brown Bookshelf
- …from YA Book Haven
- …from YA Bookshelf
- …from Zoe’s Book Reviews
Interviews, Etc.
- …”How I Got My Agent” guest blog at Writer’s Digest
- …interview with The Book Scout
- …interview with YA author Terra Elan McVoy
- …interview with YA Highway
- …my “Successful Author Talk” on Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire
- …character interview with Kelly from CLEAN on Bibliophile Brouhaha
- …guest post at The Campaign for the American Reader
- …interview and article in The East Bay Express
- …interview with YA author Nova Ren Suma
- …my “teenage garage sale” at There’s a Book
Amy Reed 
Is this a sequel to Beautiful?
It’s actually a whole new set of characters, but there are a lot of similarities. If you liked Beautiful, I think you’ll like Clean too.
What is this book about? Btw, I loved Beautiful!
Thanks Debbie! Clean is about five teenagers’ experience in rehab for drug and alcohol addiction.
I am so excited for this novel! Are there going to be characters like Cassie and Alex and Sarah in it too? 😀
I’m excited too! I wish it would come out already, but publishing moves so slowly. The characters in Clean are all new, with their own unique personalities and sets of problems, but they are definitely dealing with very similar things as the characters in Beautiful. They have a lot in common for sure.
I bought your book Beautiful the other day, my friend had told me about it. I read the whole book in about two hours or so. I couldn’t put it down, literally.
I’m in love with it! I think you’re a fantastic author and I can’t wait for Clean to come out!:)
Thanks for making my day with your book!:)
i loved your book beautiful…it was awesome…
OMGOSSHH i bought your book” Beautiful “yesterday and started reading it last night it took me an hour and a half with NO breaks it was so good i just couldnt stop reading!! cant wait for clean to come out, hope its as great as Beautiful.. 🙂
Thank you so much, Alyssa! I hope you like Clean as much as you liked Beautiful
Beautiful is one of the best books i’ve ever read. I have read it 4 times in a row. I love it so much!
I absolutely loved Beautiful, and cannot wait for Clean to come out! I’m ecstatic to see what masterpiece you have created now 🙂
You’ve catupred this perfectly. Thanks for taking the time!
I loved, loved, loved, your book beautiful! the town in it is just like mine only we keep everything a secret! lol! just wondering if this book was going to be as raw as beautiful? Also which character is most like alex? or are they all like alex cause they are addicts?
omg beautiful was amazing! i cant wait for clean. are there characters like cassie???? p.s. you’re an amazing author!!!!!!
thank you! The characters in Clean are different, but there are a lot of similarities. They’re going through a lot of the same stuff that Cassie went through
this book made me hate my boyfriend because he is the exact thing as ethan!!! thank you for helping me stand up 2 him when he does those kinds of things; your book is amazing
I’m sorry you had to experience that, but I’m so glad you found the strength to stand up to him!
Beautiful was an amazing book, and I can’t wait to get the book Clean. I WISH TIME WOULD GO BY FASTER.! Beautiful reminded me of one of my friends and her life. Beautiful has a lot of meaning and is the best book i have read!
You’re an amazing author!
I bought your book yesterday, and stayed up all night so i could read it. It just pulls you in and you don’t want to stop reading cause you never know what is going to happen next! I saw this book on another author’s page and read what i could read about it and i had to go to many stores just to find it. But all the work was worth it!
omg, beautiful was the best book in the whole world. i don’t really get to go to book stores. most of my family are past addicts (not anymore). this book helped me imagine what my mom went through. i read it in 1 day. that’s my new record. thanks so much for opening up a whole new world for me for reading.
Tasha, thank you! I’m so glad you got so much out of the book, and I hope you find more to read that moves you just as much. Best of luck to you and your family.
hi again, i gave this book to my mom and she read it in a day as well and she started to cry! and so she said she’ll get me all of your books i already read clean but i really cant wait till crazy
Wow, I am so happy to hear that your mom read it too! I really hope there are more parents like yours who can talk about these sorts of issues openly with their kids.
i also agree with tasha! i love this book so so so so much! i read it for my English project. But i do have one question, what was the message of the story?
WOW I loved your book beautiful soooo much!!!!! i ca’t wait till clean comes out. it made me think about how you kinda left the ending of the book open. it make me think about what happened to those two girls.
I LOVED BEAUTIFUL! It was such an amazing story. i saw it in the back of another book i purchased and i thought it looked really good, so i went and bought it. i have read it 5 times, and every time it still moves me. i felt a bit like cassie at the start, and reading this book was a refresh not to go down that path. it is my favourite book EVER! and i loved the character of sarah.
PLEASE MAKE A SEQUEL, it would be perfection.
P.S does it explain how the characters in clean got there?
P.P.S keep on writing, you are truly amazing. my favorite author.
You are an AMAZING author ! Beautiful is my favorite book ive read it 8 times . And i think people can relate to Cassie and Sarah ( i loved Sarah btw ) But can you PLEASE make alot more books i loved reading beautiful and im so excited for clean ! (: bye
-Ariana
Thanks so much! I plan on writing a lot more. I hope you like them as much as Beautiful
OMG! i told ALL of my friends about beautiful and they all begged to borrow it when i was done! i gave it to one of my friends and the next day a lot of the people who asked bought the book! i love how descriptive u r! Alex was personally my favorite character because she was so hard and was filled with raw emotion and was so angry and i loved it! i really want Beautiful to be a series of books! hopefully there will (wink ;D) i am a huge fan of yours and i can’t wait to read clean!
this book was great it really appealed to my age group. i could not relate to what she was going through but i know peolpe that have had that happen to them…its is always good to start anew
i’ve read the book beautiful and i absoulutly love it…
can’t wait to read clean.. !
😛
I would just like to say thank you, for writing “Beautiful.” The depth and use of haunting language still sticks with me today. I read this book over a year ago, I still recite lines from Cassie. The characters were amazing and you really did an outstanding job. When are you coming on book tour? I would just love to meet you.
Thank you so much for your kind words about Beautiful. I don’t think I’m planning a big book tour for Clean, but I’ll try to plan readings whenever I’m in a new town. What city are you in? Maybe I’ll end up there at some point 🙂
Hi! I loved your book beautiful, it has helped me get through a hard time in my life:) I was wondering how old are the characters of clean going to be?
So glad it helped you! The characters in Clean are all teenagers, ranging in age from sixteen to eighteen.
my bestfriend gave me the book beautiful so i would stop going down the wrong path, so thank you, you helped me so much.
I loved your first book and now cant wait for clean. I hope you keep making books!! I cant wait to read more of your books!
I read you book Beautiful and absolutely LOVED IT! All my friends read it and they all loved it too, we think it should be a movie, or a second book! But I cant wait to read clean Im so excited!
Hi . My name is Ashley. But People call me Ash. I really enjoy your book. Beautiful. And Clean. I have both of them. I am starting to read clean. I love it ! I mean them. Your words are so inspiring and how you put them together is so unique . And I mean that in a good way. As soon as I finished the first Chapter I knew I was gonna finish that book. But I ended up getting into trouble cause I could tune out anything and I tuned out my mom one time. And it was not pretty later on. But the book was worth it.
Anyway,
Thanks Amy. Keep up the good work.
I loved Clean soo much i read it twice….all the characters were so different from each other but at the same time they were all so much alike because of their addiction to drugs and alcohol. Even though I do not have any drug or alcohol addictions, this book made me realize that i need to face my problems and try to become more at ease with myself or else i could have an addiction. I didn’t read Beautiful yet but its next on my to read list. Thanks for making me realize this about myself. 🙂
I loved beautiful and now im just finishing up Clean i love the books and rite now im working on a book report and one of those are on my list(: for shure!!!!
Amy Reed, you are amazing. I loved Beautiful and I just finished Clean last night. I am not an emotional person when it comes to books, but how could I not cry after hearing the characters’ stories? Thanks for making my teen years more bearable by giving me something lovely to read.
I just finished Clean and its my all time favorite book! It was great, im not a big fan of reading at all but this for some reason caught my attention and im so happy i came across it. It was so well put together and i loved how every charactor is different but all can relate to eachother in some way. It was a wonderful book and ill be reading Beautiful next! I have been recomending it to many friends.
i read this whole book in half a day. i couldn’t put it down at all.
i don’t have any words right now other than it was amazing.
i related most to christopher and olivia.
the characters were just so… real. everything in the book was something so realistic, something a teenager in their place would actually write.
i might write a more in depth review later. i’m so happy i read this.
keep up the good writing, please. it would be cool to see a follow up with these same characters, even.
i absolutley loved this book and beautiful it made me cry!!i have never read so fast in my life im excited to read crazy.
i am 21 years old and for 4 years i have been facing an ongoing war with my addiction to heroin, this book actually gave me the drive and determanation to check into rehab, we dont have any around here so i never had the motivation plus i was scared but this book gave me the courage and the energy to do something about my addiction. ive read so many self help books and books to help the “addicts brain” but none of them helped me like this. i am now clean because of you book. i have been doing so well, so clean reallly helped me get clean, i wish i could hug you…thank you so much amy.
I cannot tell you how happy this makes me! This is the best thing I could ever hear from a reader. I’m so sorry you’ve had to struggle with your addiction, but I am so glad you’ve finally found relief and are on the road to recovery. I wish you the very best, and I hope you continue to find the healing you need. Getting sober is not easy–you have done the hardest part by admitting you have a problem. You are very brave, and I am so honored to have been a part of your sobriety. I wish I could hug you too! Thank you for this note, and thank you for inspiring me. love, amy
I just finished reading clean and I have never felt so ambivalent in my life. It made me realize things about myself that make me angry and happy. Thank you for this wonderful book.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE your books so much! You became my favorite author when I read Beautiful, I love your books so much! Clean was so amazing, I felt happy and sad when it ended, keep writing and don’t ever stop!
This book changed my life. This is hands-down the most connected I have ever felt to any characters. Amy Reed, you are a literary genius
This novel is one of the best books I have ever read… and that’s saying a lot considering I’ve read over 500 novels in short life of fourteen years. you are an amazing author and I will continue to read your work. I honestly fell in love with Clean. The characters were gripping and the story line had me hooked! Thanks for such a great, enjoyable work of literature 🙂
i loved your book clean! it gave me a whole new point of view. none of the stuff in clean was ever brought to my attention. i have a whole new perspective now! i mean u hear about this stuff in school but never really think about it ya know? welll anyways thanks!
Who exactly is it on the cover, Kelly or Olivia? I couldnt figure it out. By the way your my favorite author 🙂 Your books are the only ones I have ever bothered to read more than once. There amazing. I read them whenever Im upset and they really pick me back up.
Thanks! I’m so glad my books help you. You know, I’m not really sure who’s on the cover of Clean because my publisher designed it and chose the model. But I’ve always assumed it was Kelly because the model looks more like I pictured her rather than Olivia.
I was never really interested in books with this kind of subject, but something made me pick up “Clean,” and I’m glad I did! I read it in one sitting because it was way too good to put down!
Hi, I am a freshman girl in high school, I just want you to know that this book has honestly helped me more than I ever realized it could.
I bought it after reading “Beautiful” and never really got to it. I finally did during a long car ride and found myself engrossed in it. The structure, the way each character had their own unique voice and connected into Group worked wonderfully. Watching their development sprawl out was enticing and believable. It is, in its own right, a book so well written it is impossible to put down and deserves all the awards in the world.
I found myself relating to all of them, Olivia for her eating disorder, Eva from my father’s death, and in smaller bits and pieces each and every character for all of their words and actions. But I never expected for some things to hit me as hard as they did. I went through the exact same as Kelly’s with Chris Henderson this year. The more I read her sections, the more I realized what I was.
The only difference was I was fourteen then, while she was thirteen when it happened. Everything else was the same. The emotions, the way I was treated, the helplessness, the first time drinking and trying so hard to impress–everything. No one could ever understand it. The “Chris” is my age, goes to my school, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Despite all the well meant support and attempts from people, I could never properly connect. Nor with the books touching on similar subjects but could never convey the same feelings. What you wrote was real, raw, and unfortunately happening more than we think. And for the first time through reading it I felt not alone. Like I could accept it a bit more for what it is and try to help myself.
So for that I honestly can not thank you enough.
Wow, thank you so much. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that my words have made you feel less alone. You’re right–this kind of thing happens way too often, and way more than people realize. So many girls stay silent. I commend you for facing what happened, knowing it was wrong, and knowing you deserve help. You do not have to go through these things alone. You do not have to accept disrespectful treatment from anyone. I am inspired by your honesty and bravery, and I hope you are getting the help and healing you so deserve.
Love,
Amy
Will we ever find out what happens to Olivia? I’d really like to know!
Hi,
I loved “Clean” so much. I have read 3 out of the 4 books you have out now (I am currently in the middle of “Over You”) and they are all some of my favorite books. The first I read was Beautiful. I noticed it in Barnes & Noble on a display from across the room—it was the striking cover that got my attention. I liked it, but I enjoyed Clean and Crazy a lot more, and out of those three, Clean is by far my favorite. I realize you’re probably really busy and have tons of other things to be writing such as new books plus ideas for books, but if there’s ever a time when you can’t come up with something to write about, please consider writing a book about Olivia from Clean (like her backstory and the time before she went to treatment and met Kelly, Jason, Christopher and Eva. I don’t know if you would even be interested in writing that, but I know I would love to read it and I’m sure others who read Clean would, too). She was probably my favorite character in the book, though I liked all of the characters. When I read Clean, I really wanted to know more about her and her life.
Besides all of that, I think that it is such a well-written book. Each character’s voice was so distinctly different, and their personalities were so layered. At first, they are presented as they appear. How they look to those around them is how we view them. Then, as the story goes on, each character is given more depth and we learn more about who they are, what they think and feel, and the events and experiences that shaped them, whether positively or negatively, into who they are at the time the book takes place. That is what I loved about the book. It is so different from anything I’ve read before; the way it was written is so unique.
In closing (since I’ve been rambling), thank you for writing this book. It’s one of my favorites and I know it will and has helped so many people. You are so talented, and I am very excited for your next book.
I’m in love with this book it’s probably the only book I’ve read that I can fully relate to its genius.
I absolutely loved clean! I am hoping for a sequel. Any plans for the future? I know you’re probably wanting readers to use their imagination but I’d love to read more!
Nothing planned for a sequel at the moment, but you never know what the future may hold….
I just got done reading this. I love it! I’m also a teenager who went through rehab.. So this hits home to the T
I read this book every year. It’s one of my favorites and I will always love it.
thank you! that means so much to me