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About The Book

“Beautifully messy and real.” —Amy Spalding, bestselling author of We Used to Be Friends

Perfect for fans of What If It’s Us and Mary H. K. Choi, this stunning coming-of-age novel from Printz Honor author Mary McCoy follows a Memphis teen whose quest to uncover the secrets of love reveals new truths about herself.

For the past two years, Lee has been laser-focused on two things: her job as a sound tech at a local coffee shop and her podcast Artists in Love, which she cohosts with her boyfriend Vincent.

Until he breaks up with her on the air right after graduation.

When their unexpected split, the loss of her job, and her parent’s announcement that they’re separating coincide, Lee’s plans, her art, and her life are thrown into turmoil. Searching for a new purpose, Lee recruits her old friend Max and new friend Risa to produce a podcast called Objects of Destruction, where they investigate whether love actually exists at all.

But the deeper they get into the love stories around them, the more Lee realizes that she’s the one who’s been holding love at arm’s length. And when she starts to fall for Risa, she finds she’ll have to be more honest with herself and the people in her life to create a new love story of her own.

Funny, romantic, and heartfelt, this is a story about secrets, lies, friendship, found family, an expired passport, a hidden VHS tape, fried pickles, the weird and wild city of Memphis, and, most of all, love.

About The Author

Mary McCoy is a writer and a librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library. She has also been a contributor to On Bunker Hill and the 1947project, where she wrote stories about Los Angeles’s notorious past. Mary is the author of Dead to MeCamp So-and-So, the Printz Honor Book I, Claudia, and Indestructible Object. She grew up in western Pennsylvania and studied at Rhodes College and the University of Wisconsin.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (June 15, 2021)
  • Length: 336 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781534485075
  • Grades: 7 and up
  • Ages: 12 - 99
  • Lexile ® 870L The Lexile reading levels have been certified by the Lexile developer, MetaMetrics®

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Raves and Reviews

“Beautifully messy and real. A raw look at what it means to actually live as the person you truly are.”

– Amy Spalding, bestselling author of We Used to Be Friends

“With wisdom and fearlessness, Mary McCoy's Indestructible Object is not just a novel, but a manual for a life well-lived—it will leave readers wanting to make Art, to fall in and out of love, and to bravely reveal the parts of themselves kept hidden.”

– Iva-Marie Palmer, author of Gimme Everything You Got

“A moving and masterfully drawn love letter to art, found family, and all of the messy but always wonderful shades of love, filled with as much soul as the city of its setting."

– Jeff Zentner, Morris Award-winning author of The Serpent King

* "Lee’s journey toward even the hardest truths plays out with stunning emotional depth. This is a layered and vulnerable examination of everything that makes a heart beat—or break." – BookPage starred review

"A thoughtful exploration of love and identity." – Kirkus Reviews

"Printz Honor Book author McCoy offers a nuanced coming-ofage story about a complex heroine with her heart on her sleeve." Booklist

“Beautifully messy and real. A raw look at what it means to actually live as the person you truly are.”

– Amy Spalding, bestselling author of We Used to Be Friends

“With wisdom and fearlessness, Mary McCoy's Indestructible Object is not just a novel, but a manual for a life well-lived—it will leave readers wanting to make Art, to fall in and out of love, and to bravely reveal the parts of themselves kept hidden.”

– Iva-Marie Palmer, author of Gimme Everything You Got

“A moving and masterfully drawn love letter to art, found family, and all of the messy but always wonderful shades of love, filled with as much soul as the city of its setting."

– Jeff Zentner, Morris Award-winning author of The Serpent King

* "Lee’s journey toward even the hardest truths plays out with stunning emotional depth. This is a layered and vulnerable examination of everything that makes a heart beat—or break." – BookPage starred review

"A thoughtful exploration of love and identity." – Kirkus Reviews

"Printz Honor Book author McCoy offers a nuanced coming-ofage story about a complex heroine with her heart on her sleeve." Booklist

Awards and Honors

  • Kansas NEA Reading Circle List Intermediate Title
  • ALA/YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults - Top Ten

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