Hung Up

December 16, 2013
When a misdialed number brings Lucy and James together, they keep the conversation going, discussing school assignments, the weather, whether Lucy should wear skirts more often, and what James should do after his best friend starts dating his old girlfriend. Though their first attempt to meet in person (their Vermont towns are near each other) goes disastrously wrong, it also leads to more honest discussions about their lives. Tracy’s premise is a great way to get these two high school seniors talking, flirting, and confiding without the pressures that could come from an in-person meeting, but Lucy’s continuing refusal to let James in on what’s causing her “limitations” grows frustrating. When she finally comes clean, the secret—which is serious enough that keeping it makes sense—creates additional complications. While Tracy (Crimes of the Sarahs) fully embraces her setup (the story unfolds almost entirely through the characters’ over-the-phone chats and voice mail messages), James and Lucy’s banter often feels self-conscious, as though they are actors exchanging dialogue rather than two teens in true conversation. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger.

February 1, 2014
In a narrative rendered entirely in voice mails, text messages and transcribed phone conversations, James and Lucy gradually go from strangers to romance. Lucy starts it off by calling what she thinks is the customer-service number of a company she's ordered a plaque from, but it's actually James' new phone number. The company is defunct, and the order Lucy placed with such care is never going to arrive. Both Lucy and James live in Vermont and go to high school; Lucy's in Montpelier, and James lives in Burlington. Once they get past the initial confusion, their conversations are full of teasing, casual and funny. As the back and forth continues, more serious subjects gradually arise, and eventually they become confidants, more candid with each other in this mediated relationship than they might be in person. However, each of them has something that they hide from the other that their friends already know. And each does something that the other might consider unforgivable. How the friendship heals while the characters remain true to themselves is conveyed in the continuing encounters. Appealing characters stand out in a quick read that is a lighthearted look at how real friendships develop, grow and deepen. (Romance. 12-16)

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March 15, 2014
Grades 8-11 Lucy, in East Montpelier, Vermont, dials a number more than once, leaving increasingly angry messages about the lack of return calls acknowledging an order she had placed. James, almost an hour away in Burlington, finally answers, explaining he's not the business she was trying to reach. A conversation ensues, and the two 16-year-olds gradually become phone friends. Their cautious yet witty exchanges slowly include analytical and enlightening dialogue. Homework help often segues to love-life advice, but when James asks Lucy to a dance at his high school, she panics. Underneath the playful, comedic banter, they both are keeping something personally painful close to their chests, but little by little, their truths surface, revealing how lives cross paths that are closer than imagined. This story, told solely through voice mails and phone conversations, offers interesting impressions that rest solely on words unaccompanied by actions. Hung Up intriguingly looks at building, losing, and rebuilding trust while learning to respect personal boundaries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)