FIERCELY FICTIONAL celebrates fierce, inspiring fictional girls we know you’ll love. To us, “fierce” isn’t just about slaying dragons or solving mysteries. It’s about breaking free from your comfort zone, discovering your confidence, fighting for what you believe in, & discovering your emotional strength. Any girl can shine bright & be fierce, & that’s what this series is all about!
We’re back with another FIERCELY FICTIONAL spotlight, and this time, we’re highlighting Nina from 13 Ways to Say Goodbye by Kate Fussner.
After Nina’s older sister Lily passed away three years ago, Nina has been hurting and isn’t quite sure what to do with all of her big feelings. Before each of her birthdays, Lily always created a secret list of things to accomplish before the big day, and with her gone, Nina has been checking off the things on the lists as a way to keep Lily close and continue her special tradition. Except, on the verge of turning 13, Nina only has one list left, and it’s filled with things that Lily was never able to finish.
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Nina convinces her parents to let her spend the summer in Paris with her aunt, but what she really wants is to complete Lily’s final list. But as she works her way through the items on the list, Nina finds herself magically transported into her own memories, where she’s able to see Lily and is torn between lingering in the past and living in the present, where she happens to meet Sylvie, a girl in her art class who’s making her feel all sorts of new things.
13 Ways to Say Goodbye:
A novel-in-verse about life after loss, 13 Ways to Say Goodbye beautifully renders the power of sibling bonds, the depth of grief, and the strength of learning to love again, perfect for fans of Everywhere Blue and The Distance to Home, from the author of The Song of Us.
Nina always followed her older sister, Lily. But just before her thirteenth birthday, Lily died, leaving Nina behind forever.
In the three years since she lost her sister, Nina has completed Lily’s secret Before Birthday lists to continue in her footsteps. But now Nina is catching up. When Nina flies to Paris, France, and completes tasks that Lily never finished, Nina finds herself magically transported inside of her own memories, face-to-face with the ghosts of her past.
With her birthday looming and the last list running out, Nina is torn between visiting her sister in her memories and adventuring in the present, including crushing hard on her art classmate, Sylvie. Should she follow Lily’s instructions or try something new? And what happens when she finishes the list?
13 Ways to Say Goodbye
AUTHOR: Kate Fussner
PUBLISHER: HarperCollins
DATE: March 18, 2025
13 Ways to Say Goodbye is a gorgeous novel-in-verse that will break your heart and then put it back together, leaving it better than it was before. It’s a love letter to Paris, to sibling love, and to sweet summer crushes.
What makes Nina fierce? Even while heartbroken over the loss of her sister, she finds ways to stay connected to her memory and live life again. She goes after what she wants, even when she’s hurting, and finds strength in the little moments that make her whole again.
We’re excited to share that author Kate Fussner is here to share a peek between the pages of 13 Ways to Say Goodbye and all the reasons Nina is totally fierce!
Five Reasons Nina is Totally Fierce:
She tries things even when she isn’t necessarily “good” at them
Nina isn’t naturally talented at art. In fact, she only turned to art as a way to deal with her grief after her older sister died. Nina felt like everyone was tired of her talking about her sister, so Nina started drawing as a way to manage her very big feelings. When Nina goes to Paris to take an art class and meets her new classmate and tour guide, Sylvie, Nina is intimidated by how talented Sylvie is.
Instead of giving up art, Nina continues to slowly work at her drawing skills and learns a lot from listening to Sylvie and her teacher’s advice. Nina understands that it’s good to have hobbies that are just for her, even if they won’t become her life’s passion. Nina is fierce because she keeps trying no matter what.
She follows her heart
Although Nina and her family used to travel to Paris every summer to visit Nina’s aunt, Nina hasn’t been in three summers because her sister died. Nina doesn’t know French very well anymore because she hasn’t used it at home in Boston. Her parents can’t leave their jobs to go to Paris because they no longer have remote flexibility in their work. But Nina’s older sister had a “13 Before 13” birthday goals list that Nina is determined to complete…even though it requires her to go to Paris!
Nina convinces her parents to let her stay with her aunt for a month. Even though Nina hates flying, remembers almost no French, and understands that France is very far away from home, Nina is brave enough to follow her heart and gets herself to Paris.
She changes her mind
Nina learns that first impressions aren’t everything and that it’s okay to change your mind about someone. When Nina first meets Sylvie, the art student who will also be her guide around Paris, Sylvie’s standoffish nature and sophisticated style both intimidate and annoy Nina. Nina feels embarrassed – like she’s being treated like a little kid, when in fact Nina is a fierce girl who got herself all the way to Paris for the summer! Sylvie, too, isn’t so impressed with Nina, who seems to know nothing about art and wants to go to the most touristy places in all of Paris.
But as the girls grow close to each other and Nina begins to open up about what’s most important to her, Nina starts to like Sylvie. As Sylvie starts to see the city of Paris through the eyes of awestruck Nina, Sylvie not only sees her home city in a different way but also her new American companion. Both girls learn it’s more than okay to change your mind about someone.
She goes after her goals
Nina’s older sister, Lily, had goal lists before each birthday with things she wanted to accomplish before each new age. When Lily died, Nina started completing the lists as a way to honor her sister and grow in her footsteps. But when Nina reaches the very last list, Lily’s incomplete 13-before-13 that Lily never finished, Nina’s goals are a whole lot harder.
She has to travel to Paris. She has to visit somewhere creepy (and Nina hates scary things!). She even has to get a first kiss. Although Nina is nervous about accomplishing some of her sister’s goals, and even more worried about what will happen when she no longer has her sister’s footsteps to follow, Nina is determined to see them through. Even if it means taking a tour of the terrifying Catacombes, asking her crush for a kiss, and coming up with a goal of her own: the hardest goal of all.
She has hard conversations
After Lily died, Nina’s parents did not want to talk about Lily’s death. Nina’s friends, too, got tired of Nina being sad all of the time so Nina tucked away as much of her grief as she could. Instead of asking for what she needed or working with her loved ones to manage her grief, Nina shut everyone out and kept her grief and her memories to herself. But as Nina grows closer to Sylvie and has some distance from her parents to realize how hard it’s been to be silent about her needs and dreams, Nina realizes she has to have hard conversations in order to build real and better relationships.
Nina knows it’s not easy to be honest, especially when you might hurt your own parents’ feelings. But Nina learns that her feelings also deserve space and care, so she makes herself have hard conversations in order to repair the most important relationships in her life.
📚Need another fierce read to add to your shelf after 13 Ways to Say Goodbye? Catch up on our FIERCELY FICTIONAL series!
