Switching Gears

December 15, 2016
Emmy grapples with the death of her first love, a potential new boyfriend, and her mom's diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's. This companion to Love, Lucas (2015) follows Emmy, Lucas' childhood friend and secret love. Though they never actually dated, the pair confessed their love a week before Lucas died. Unsurprisingly, a mere four weeks later, Emmy is unwilling to give handsome, hazel-eyed Cole a chance at romance. Emmy spends lots of time rebuffing Cole's attempts at friendship and romance, especially when she's further devastated by her mother's diagnosis. Mountain biking becomes her outlet, and conveniently, Cole--a sponsored rider himself--uses this shared interest to encourage Emmy to become more emotionally available. Also helping push romance is Emmy's best friend, Kelsie, who reminds Emmy, "It's okay to move on. He'd [Lucas] want that." It may be sage advice, but considering Lucas died only four weeks earlier, expecting her to be ready for new love feels awfully premature. But what is youth if not resilient? A few weeks later Cole has managed to gently persuade Emmy to leave behind her fear of loss, and the two are happily dating. And then catastrophe strikes, ramping the melodrama level up even further. Luckily for Emmy (and readers), a quick epilogue provides easy resolutions. The cast appears to be a largely white one. Best for fans of three-hanky weepers. (Romance. 12-16)

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2017

Gr 7 Up-This companion novel to Love, Lucas centers on 17-year-old Emmy Martin. It's been one month since Lucas, Emmy's best friend and secret love, passed away, and she is trying to cope with the loss. Emmy hopes that mountain biking will help her forget, but she can't drown out her memories, and she's not ready to talk about Lucas or forget about him. Then her parents deliver a devastating blow: Emmy's mom has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. Emmy throws herself into mountain biking harder than ever, hoping to ignore what Alzheimer's will do to her mom and their family. Her goal is to win a big race and get sponsored. Her nemesis, Cole Evans, offers to help her hone her biking skills. Will Emmy take the chance to open up to someone new and accept her life circumstances? Emmy is a sympathetic, believable character, and while Sedgwick shows her coping believably with grief, she keeps the focus on the big race Emmy is training for, along with her growing relationship with Cole. The secondary characters are distinct, but since the story is told from a first-person point of view, Emmy is the main concern. VERDICT Not a first purchase. Recommend this to fans of Sedgwick's Love, Lucas and those who like realistic fiction with a hopeful ending.-Natalie Struecker, Atlantic Public Library, IA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.