Gone

February 26, 2007
In addition to the scintillating premise of a teacher-student affair, this is a raw novel about a 17-year-old's search for a home. Readers will find it easy to sympathize with Connor, a recent high school graduate who lives with his aunt (his parents are both alcoholics; he is estranged from his mother, and his father is in a nursing home after an alcohol-related accident). Readers will also find it easy to see why the teen falls for his former history teacher, beautiful Ms. Corinna Timms, who had noticed the usually "invisible" Connor ("It terrified him. It made his blood sing"). Though it is not immediately clear what she sees in him, they begin a relationship, which quickly becomes intense. Connor soon decides that he should follow her after she moves from Maryland to New Mexico. Johnson (The Parallel Universe of Liars
) imagines a well-drawn backdrop to this story, both in the steamy summer setting, and in the colorful, full-bodied characters, ranging from Connor's hippie aunt to Zach, his nerdy best friend, who also falls in love that summer. Some plot points, such as the painful reason behind Connor's tension with his mother, or Corinna's own revelations about her dark past, come late in the book and seem tacked on. But in the end, warm scenes of Aunt Syl's birthday crab feed—or even Connor's father's well-attended funeral—will let readers understand where Connor's true "home" is long before he does. Ages 14-up.

May 1, 2007
Gr 9 Up-This romance set near Baltimore has the elements necessary to create tension to move the novel forward from one heart-wrenching moment to the next. Connor, a recent high school graduate just short of his 18th birthday, and Corinna Timms, his 31-year-old former social studies teacher, are drawn uncontrollably to one another. Unfortunately, the story doesnt work. The sexual fumblings, anger, and longing seem as shallow as the one-dimensional characters themselves. Corinna is a former drug-addicted dropout and Connor, the product of alcohol-addicted parents. His father, broken by an accident caused by his alcoholism, is institutionalized. Connor visits him out of a sense of obligation. The protagonist is a gifted worker in wood, not so gifted academically, who frequently views the world in geometric forms. Events are sequential, relying heavily on coincidence. The supporting characters are revealed through narrative description rather than interaction. Even the pets are props. As often as not the cat is used to arouse Connor from his current fantasy or sexual self-indulgence. There is the obligatory separation and consequent pursuit in the last pages, a trip from Maryland to New Mexico. And it is in this futile endeavor that Connor comes to realize what his life really means. But by this time, readers may not care."Sheila Fiscus, Our Lady of Peace School, Erie, PA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2007
From a blow job to a backseat coupling that leaves recent high-school graduate Connor "spent and trembling" atop his former history teacher, this intense novel, from the author of " Target "(2003)" , "oesn't shy away from specifics. Steamy sex scenes notwithstanding, Johnson's interest lies primarily in the way the inappropriate relationship fills a vulnerable teen's emotional void. Connor has finished his senior year living with his aunt, "just doing time" as he extricates himself from his alcoholic parents. When Ms. Timms reciprocates his crush, hopes for a remade future hinge upon his lover's unpredictable moods and plans. Johnson creates a feverish atmosphere--the humid summer, the blazing grill at the restaurant where Connor works--to underline the physical desire, and crushing emotions are beautifully drawn. However, some pieces of the puzzle fit the child-of-an-alcoholic profile too precisely, while others are left frustratingly unresolved, and Johnson's overly poetic voice frequently intrudes. Still, teens will be drawn by the racy cover photo and respond as much to the affair's heartbreaking course as to Connor's drifting, post-high-school dislocation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)