No One Here is Lonely

October 22, 2018
Eden’s longtime crush, Will, is killed in a car accident just before high school graduation, on the very night they finally kiss. When she returns Will’s jacket to his mother, she is given the phone number to In Good Company, software that replicates the voice and personality traits of the departed. Eden uses the service to chat with Will, or at least a facsimile of him, via telephone. She goes to him for advice and comfort when her plans to be a camp counselor go up in smoke; when she and her best friend, Lacey, have a falling out; and when she discovers her mother cheating on her father. But Eden’s continued crush and growing dependency on Will prevent her from developing relationships with real people, especially a boy she is just beginning to trust. Everett (Everyone We’ve Been) makes the improbable seem plausible in this novel, which is part unrequited love story, part cautionary tale about grief turning to obsession and fantasy. Ages 12–up. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary.

Narrator Imani Parks delivers this teen romance with a vein of science fiction. High school has just ended, and Eden couldn't feel more alone. Her best friend won't give her the time of day. Her mom is hiding a secret that could destroy her family. The only person Eden can talk to is her longtime crush, Will--the same Will who died a few weeks ago. Before he died, Will donated his voice and personality to a cutting-edge tech company to be used for one of their products: a phone companion. Parks performs Eden's and Will's voices similarly, so the young friends' phone conversations are hard to follow. Parks pauses at awkward places in the middle of sentences. This sometimes lends a poetic quality to the narration, though usually it feels clumsy. S.P. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine