# Is "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Little, Brown and Company, 2002) is identified by: First edition, first printing has a complete number line including 1. The US Little, Brown first is the true first; the UK Picador edition (2002) follows.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing has a complete number line including 1
- Turquoise and navy cloth and boards; colorful pictorial dust jacket with the printed price intact and unclipped
- ISBN 0-316-66634-3
- Publisher imprint reads Little, Brown and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Alice Sebold |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
| Year | 2002 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first printing has a complete number line including 1 |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing has a complete number line including 1. Turquoise and navy cloth and boards; colorful pictorial dust jacket with the printed price intact and unclipped. ISBN 0-316-66634-3.

## Is this the true first?
The US Little, Brown first is the true first; the UK Picador edition (2002) follows. Sebold's debut novel.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Many later printings exist; only a number line including 1 confirms the first. No competing book-club issue defines the points.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Lovely Bones* by Alice Sebold a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-lovely-bones
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.