A Complicated Love Story Set in Space

November 9, 2020
This queer sci-fi romance from Hutchinson (The State of Us) finds three teens in space with no clue how they got there. Noa North fell asleep in Seattle before abruptly awakening in a spacesuit outside the starship Qriosity. DJ Storm was showering in Florida one minute, and in the ship’s reactor room the next. And Jenny Price went from reading in Rhode Island to being trapped in Qriosity’s bathroom. After DJ and Noa save the vessel from an imminent explosion—and Jenny escapes the latrine—the trio attempts to reboot the main computer. Doing so initiates the ship’s Phone Home protocol, which uses the Quantum Fold Drive to send them randomly through space every 19 hours until they happen across Earth. Their situation devolves into a string of increasingly bizarre mysteries that stymie sleuth Jenny, and though sparks fly between DJ and Noa, inner demons and actual monsters threaten their shared future. Through Noa’s first-person narrative, Hutchinson skillfully balances high-stakes action and mind-bending plot twists with humor and profundity. The result is a wildly ambitious, wackily imaginative tale that will leave readers craving a sequel. Ages 14–up. Agent: Katie Shea Boutillier, Donald Maass Literary. (Jan.)■

Kevin R. Free's exuberant narration sets the tone for this humorous, heartfelt story. When Noa wakes up on a spaceship with no memory of how he got there, he panics. Luckily, he's not alone, and the warm, soothing drawl of DJ (expertly voiced by Free) soon calms him down. But there are hurdles, and staying alive is only the first. Now Noa, DJ, and their shipmate, Jenny, have to figure out how to get home. As Noa falls in love amid these mysterious circumstances, Free's narration shifts between utter happiness, abject terror, and a nervousness so genuine you can hear him blush. Talented narrators Gibson Frazier and Candace Thaxton add to the quality of the production in two short sections told from DJ's and Jenny's perspectives. L.S. � AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine