What is the title of this young adult book? ?

Question

I read a book when I was about 14, so 9 years ago, that I absolutely loved and I cannot remember the title.

This is what I remember about it....

The cover was hot pink and it had a boy and girl on the cover on a motorcycle. I can't remember the girl characters name, but the boy was definitely Spencer. The girl and Spencer were best friends when they were younger, but then Spencer became popular and quit speaking with her. She lives with her mother in a small apartment and he is from a very wealthy but dysfunctional family. It turns out that when Spencer was a little boy he was the one to find his father after he committed suicide. Spencer and the girl end up getting involved and then he gets into a motorcycle accident and is in the hospital.

Does anyone remember the title of this book? Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

That sounds like "The Wind Blows Backwards" by Mary Downing Hahn. Here's a short plot synopsis of the book:

"High school seniors Lauren and Spencer cling to one other in an insensitive world peopled by affluent, snobbish classmates and preoccupied adults. They had been middle school misfits, bonded by braces and a love of fantasy and science fiction. But time, different lifestyles, and peer pressure interferred. He became the "Prince of Jocks," while she remained an introverted loner. When he suddenly rekindles their friendship, Lauren is wary until she realizes that Spencer is deeply troubled and values the honesty and camaraderie they once shared. As their romance intensifies, he confides that he is haunted by his father's suicide and disturbed by his pretentious lifestyle and uncommunicative mother. Drunk and depressed on graduation night, he is nearly killed in a motorcycle accident. His physical, psychological, and emotional healing begins with devoted Lauren by his side. The couple confronts modern perils of youth--s*x, alcohol, and suicide--with little adult intervention. Lauren's divorced mother is sympathetic but distracted by her own romantic involvement. Spencer's mother and stepfather are more concerned with social appearances than reality. Mr. Walker, their English teacher, dismisses the young man's poetic perception of death as plagiarism."

Amazon.com has the book in a hardcover edition (it's a different cover but a lot of books have different covers for different editions) for $12.48. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Wind-Blows-Backwar...