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Smith, Emily Wing
3 Reviews
(3)
YA
Originally published in paperback in 2008, this is a powerful cumulative portrait of one teen and the community that admired but couldn't quite accept him. After Joel dies on a hike in the Grand Canyon, six young adults recall their experiences with him, building a credible profile of this gay boy's life, and implicitly illustrating how difficult it is to truly know someone.
Reviewer: Norah Piehl
(4)
YA
"So much of what I thought was me was really the tumor...Now I can get better. Only what if I can't?" Many of Smith's psychological and physical diagnoses, recounted in this memoir, can be attributed to a near-fatal brain tumor--but that fact offers no easy solutions. Short, engaging vignettes, though sometimes thin on detail, cover lots of ground.
Reviewer: Lauren Causey
(3)
YA
Joy's boyfriend, unconventional Zan, escapes their ultra-Mormon Utah town for the freedoms of college in California. Joy coerces Zan's friend Noah into a road trip to be with Zan, only to discover that he was also eager to escape her. The humanizing of too-good-to-be-true Zan and some (slight) boundary-pushing by otherwise vanilla Joy and Noah add some depth to this romance.
Reviewer: Katie Bircher
3 reviews
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