Boy

April 17, 2017
Popularity isn’t something Gavin Meeks sought; it’s the byproduct of where he lives, how he dresses and looks, his athletic skills, and the fact that his tennis partner is the most popular guy in their class. But he hasn’t thought much about his status—until he grows interested in a new girl who’s unimpressed by (and unqualified for) the golden circle. As Gavin moves from sophomore to senior year, Nelson (Girl) shows him shifting from passively accepting what he’s been given to really thinking about what he wants. The process isn’t direct or quick—Gavin’s happy to accept a consensus girlfriend who makes sense in his social group—though it gathers momentum as he makes friends with people on the margins and gets serious about photography. But in covering three years, Nelson ends up telling more than he shows, often relying on abrupt transitions like “later,” “the next day,” “then one day.” Readers may feel that they’re seeing Gavin from a distance rather than up close. 14–up. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House.

April 15, 2017
An affluent white teenage boy begins to question his place in his peer group after an odd new girl challenges his assumptions. Sophomore Gavin Meeks is "one of the popular kids" at Evergreen High School in Portland, Oregon. His hobbies and dating choices are mostly based on his friends' opinions and his family's wealth. Everything changes when he meets Antoinette Renwick, a white girl who smokes, "dresses like a freak," and had a brother who committed suicide. At first, Gavin can't imagine being friends with her. But once he spends more time with Antoinette, he realizes that she "wasn't just some pissed-off teenager. She had a plan...and the rest of it: high school, social life, teachers, parents...it was just noise to her." Antoinette is the catalyst that initiates Gavin's transformation from privileged tennis player to thoughtful photographer. Gavin knows he's in love. But can Antoinette ever be in love with someone like him? Nelson returns to his now-familiar, linear plot of a clueless suburban teen awakening to the world's complications under the influence of a quirky outsider. While references to Facebook may seem dated, Nelson gives a nod to the current cultural context when Gavin tries to photograph an angry protest that erupts as a result of a police shooting of an African-American teenager. The bildungsroman never goes out of style, and Nelson still executes it well, if predictably. (Fiction. 13-18)

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May 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Gavin Meeks, who lives in Portland, OR, is part of the elite crowd. He maintains his popularity as long as he is willing to be manipulated by mean girl Hanna Sloan. It's Gavin's sophomore year, and he's decided to no longer play tennis, because he realized he was doing it only to please his dad. He discovers a love for photography and at the risk of injury and near arrest is considering photojournalism as a career choice. Gavin also befriends Antoinette Renwick, the new girl whose brother committed suicide and who has totally unsettled his world. She doesn't fit in, and she doesn't care: she spends her summers in Europe with her dad, smokes weed, dates a drug dealer, and has a detached attitude toward sex. By senior year, it's Antoinette and her friend Kai whose unexpected strength and resilience keep Gavin from spiraling out of control when his world crumbles under the breakdown of his lifelong friendships and his parents' unexpected divorce. Readers will enjoy this inside view into Gavin's world as they are allowed to witness the mistakes and recoveries the protagonist and his friends go through. Written in the style of Nelson's iconic Girl, with many of the same themes, this work will resonate with teens. VERDICT Purchase where Whitney Gardner's You're Welcome, Universe, Dana Reinhardt's Tell Us Something True, and Kenneth Logan's True Letters from a Fictional Life are popular.-Sabrina Carnesi, Crittenden Middle School, Newport News, VA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2017
Grades 9-12 Nelson's latest captures the slow transformation of high-schooler Gavin Meeks from popular tennis player to budding photographer. Gavin never noticed new-to-town fellow sophomore Antoinette until her older brother commits suicide. Out of curiosity, he bikes over to her house and watches, transfixed. He and Antoinette circle each other as Gavin takes small steps outside his crew of beautiful people, ultimately developing a friendship and then crush on the mysterious girl, who follows the beat of her own drummer. But it's photography that becomes Gavin's true focus, as he apprentices with a local photographer, slowly building a portfolio and ultimately applying to art school, much to his lawyer dad's dismay. This covers a lot of ground time-wisethree yearswhich has the unfortunate effect of leading to too much telling rather than showing. Still, much like Richard Linklater's acclaimed film Boyhood, this is a study of the slow changes that accrue over time, and the way the arcs of our lives often defy our expectations and intentions.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)