The Vow

September 2, 2013
Intriguing but neglected subplots aren’t enough to right Martinez’s (The Space Between Us) imbalanced novel. Studious Mo and artistic Annie, who alternate narrator duties, have been best friends for seven years, when Annie’s sister’s murder and Mo’s arrival from Jordan to an Iraq War–shy Kentucky made them both outcasts. Just before their senior year, Mo’s plans for both the summer and his future are jeopardized when his family suddenly has to return to Jordan. Although Mo and Annie are both smart and resourceful, they immediately decide that the only way to keep Mo in the U.S. is to get married. To keep their relationship believable, the couple must lie to their families, Annie’s new boyfriend, and the entire town. The ensuing complications surrounding the teens’ marriage and the technicalities of immigration law swallow the more believable and accessible storylines of Annie’s family’s grief, Mo’s complex relationship toward his family and two countries, the everyday xenophobia and prejudice he witnesses, and the pair’s changing friendship as they move into adulthood. Ages 14–up. Agent: Mandy Hubbard, D4EO Literary Agency.