ATHENEUM BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS • An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division • 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020 • www.SimonandSchuster.com • This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. • Copyright © 2013 by Frances O’Roark Dowell • All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. • ATHENEUM BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. • Atheneum logo is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. • The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com. • Book design by Sonia Chaghatzbanian • Jacket design by Sonia Chaghatzbanian • Jacket photograph by Ali Smith • The text for this book is set in Lomba Book. • Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data • Dowell, Frances O’Roark. • The sound of your voice, only really far away / Frances O’Roark Dowell. — 1st ed. • p. cm. • Sequel to: The kind of friends we used to be. • Summary: Best friends Marylin and Kate compete for limited school resources when Kate helps her boyfriend seek funding for the Audio Lab, while Marylin covers her interest in the student body president by claiming she only wants his support for new cheerleading uniforms. • ISBN 978-1-4424-3289-5 (hardcover) — ISBN 978-1-4424-3291-8 (eBook) • [1. Best friends—Fiction. 2. Friendship—Fiction. 3. Middle schools—Fiction. 4. Schools—Fiction. 5. Popularity—Fiction.] I. Title. • PZ7.D75455Sou 2013 • [Fic]—dc23 • 2012030308