Awake in the World

December 15, 2018
Two teens--an unlucky boy scraping by, a starry-eyed girl with big plans--cross trajectories in Gurley's (Greatfall, 2018, etc.) utterly sincere YA debut.It's senior year in Orilla del Cielo, a California coastal town. Zachary, a gangly, artistic, white teen with a bleak outlook on life, doesn't see the point in applying for college. After all, he's convinced he'll end up on the same soul-crushing dead-end path as his older brother and deceased father. The novel's other narratorial voice belongs to Vanessa, an affluent quarter-Japanese and (presumably) three-quarters-white teen who dreams of getting into Cornell to follow in the footsteps of her idol, astronomer Carl Sagan. Her animosity toward her father, who abandoned Vanessa and her mom, fuels her ambitions; her friendly rivalry with best friend Cece Vasquez (Latinx and queer) does the same. Momentous fate brings Vanessa and Zach together. Convinced of his artistic worth, she tries to help set him on a college-oriented track while he strains to spare her from his poverty-induced burdens. As the two get closer, conflicting forces pull them apart, derailing whatever plans--good or bad--they thought they had. Incisive, wholehearted dialogue and lovely prose fill the novel, an exploration of an adolescent relationship that's equal parts sweet and unlikely. Blossoming romance eventually encounters tragedies big and small, spiraling into a surprisingly suspenseful ending.Buoyed by strong, likable characters and superb writing, this coming-of-age tale cuts to the core. (Realistic fiction. 12-18)

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February 1, 2019

Gr 8 Up-Grieving the death of his father and the continued legal issues surrounding his ocean-diving death, Zach plans to keep his head down in the town locals call Orilly and pick up a few more shifts to help out his family. Also grieving the loss of her father who chose to leave, Vanessa has her sights set on Cornell and only Cornell along with a career in astronomy. Vanessa seems to have life easy, with plenty of money in the family and a goal. Zach seems to be cursed at every turn. The two high school seniors from opposite sides of the track in a small town in California are drawn together in an unlikely romance. Gurley's plot, told in alternating perspectives, is well-crafted, with plenty of ups and downs to interest readers. Zach struggles with an apparent masculinity complex as he takes on the role of providing for his family while stifling his own needs and emotions. Vanessa is something of a manic pixie dream girl, despite a conversation she has with a good friend asserting that she's not. While the two have learned at least a little by the end, their internal conflicts are not completely or satisfactorily resolved, and instead emphasizes an overused and old set of social expectations. VERDICT An additional purchase.-Abby Hargreaves, District of Columbia Public Library

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