Author: Jason Reynolds
Year published: 2024
Category: YA fiction
Pages: 239 pages
Rating: 4 out of 5
Location: (my 2025 Google Reading map): USA
Summary: Twenty-four months ago: Neon gets chased by a dog all around the parking lot of a church. Not his finest moment. And definitely one he would have loved to forget if it weren’t for the dog’s owner: Aria. Dressed in sweats, a t-shirt, hair in a ponytail. Aria. Way more than fine.
Twenty-four weeks ago: Neon’s dad insists on talking to him about tenderness and intimacy. Neon and Aria are definitely in love, and while they haven’t taken that next big step…yet, they’ve starting talking about…that.
Twenty-four days ago: Neon’s mom finds her—gulp—bra in his room. Hey! No judging! Those hook thingies are complicated! So he’d figured he’d better practice, what with the big day only a month away.
Twenty-four minutes ago: Neon leaves his shift at work at his dad’s bingo hall, making sure to bring some chicken tenders for Aria. They’re not candlelight and they definitely aren’t caviar, but they are her favorite.
And right this second? Neon is locked in Aria’s bathroom, completely freaking out because twenty-four seconds from now he and Aria are about to…about to… Well, they won’t do anything if he can’t get out of his own head (all the advice, insecurities, and what ifs) and out of this bathroom!
Review: Jason Reynolds is so good. When I was reading a ton of YA literature, I always knew I would enjoy a book by him (links to my reviews: Patina; Ghost; Look Both Ways; Long Way Down; The Boy in the Black Suit; Stamped; and All American Boys) and this one is no exception. Iit won the Coretta Scott King Award.
Neon is an important character, as Jason Reynolds points out in his acknowledgements, because he is a black boy with a love story, and we rarely read about those. Neon has a steady girlfriend and they are ready to have sex for the first time. He is nervous and a bit shy about it, but as the story progresses, we hear him talk about it with his friends in a thoughtful way, his sibling, and his mom. They all have advice and the advice is good. It's open and honest. How often does that happen in any family?
While YA books don't capture my attention the way they used to, I can see this one doing very well. It's got a great message that it's good to talk about feelings, sex, and how to treat other people.
Challenges for which this counts:
- Diversity--all characters are African American
No comments
Post a Comment