February 1, 2023
Traumatic amnesia and the smothering confines of a conservative town can't stunt the blooming of young love. Stevie Green and Nora Martin have been dating secretly for nearly two years when disaster strikes: a terrible accident, a head injury, and suddenly, 18-year-old Stevie has no memory of the past couple of years. She returns from the hospital to a life where nothing feels quite familiar. Her mother, whom she always considered a best friend, is distant due to the reverberations of events that Stevie can't remember. Her father has grown remote, engrossed by the pundits on Fox News and regurgitating intolerant beliefs. Even Savannah and Rory, her closest friends from Catholic school, feel like strangers, endorsing anti-Asian comments even though Stevie is biracial (Korean and implied White). And then there's Nora, a girl she can't recall meeting in her former life but whom she feels utterly connected to all the same. As Stevie fights to regain her memories and reconcile the sensations of wrongness that pervade her relationships, Nora fights for Stevie, determined that their love will regrow despite the hurdles presented by their town and her own hostile, physically abusive mother. Derrick tells Stevie's story with finesse, the beats well paced and building powerfully. Small-town Pennsylvania is vividly portrayed, the complex emotions Stevie feels for her hometown becoming viscerally relatable. Heart-rending and heartwarming. (Fiction. 14-18)
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February 27, 2023
Because of pervasive racism and homophobia in their small Pennsylvania town, teenagers Stevie Green, who is Korean and assumed white, and white Nora Martin must hide their romantic relationship. The two have been saving money to attend college in California after graduation, and they are only a few months away from their goal when Stevie is involved in a devastating accident. Upon waking in the hospital, she can’t recall the last two years of her life, which includes coming to terms with her sexuality and any memories of her relationship with Nora. Now, Stevie struggles to acclimate to a life that feels wrong: When did she and her mother get so distant? Why do her father and friends parrot the community’s prejudiced rhetoric? What is her relationship to Nora? Nora, meanwhile, wrestles with figuring out how to win Stevie back and writes letters to Stevie that she doesn’t intend to send. This high-concept solo debut by Derrick (She Gets the Girl) is part simmering romance, part affecting character study; Stevie’s palpable frustrations with the people around her who keep telling her who she is and what she wants, juxtaposed with her own feelings of unease, cultivate a textured telling that eschews clichéd interpretations of the belief that love conquers all. Ages 14–up. Agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management.
July 1, 2023
Gr 9 Up-Stevie and Nora are two teenage girls madly in love in a conservative town that would never accept them. They love in secret, meeting in the woods of Nora's farm or in a neighboring city where they can indulge in public dating without fear. After finishing high school, they have money saved and their escape to an accepting, affirming life in California all planned out. That is until a devastating accident causes Stevie to forget that Nora exists. She wakes up to a life, to friends, and to parents who are completely different from those she remembers, having no idea what has made them estranged during the gap in her memory. As well, she finds herself magnetically drawn to the strange girl who saved her life, Nora, who unbeknownst to her is concealing her broken heart and her deep hope that Stevie will remember their love. It's a well-paced, well-built, heartbreaking, and heartwarming story about trusting instincts, finding the right people, and figuring it all out. Readers will root for this couple against all odds. Perfect for fans of a good amnesia story. VERDICT A solid purchase for all libraries serving teens, especially where LGBTQIA+ contemporary romance is popular.-Kayla Fontaine
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Starred review from March 15, 2023
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Stevie and Nora have a plan: after graduation, they're going to leave their hometown of Wyatt, Pennsylvania, and move to California, where Stevie will attend UCLA and Nora will work at a farm. But after Stevie has a serious accident during a romantic afternoon with Nora, Stevie suddenly can't remember the last two years--not coming out to her mom, not drifting away from her conservative parents, not the lies she's been telling her childhood friends to hide her sexuality, and not even her relationship with Nora. Stevie is navigating unfamiliar territory, rediscovering who she is, and questioning her sexuality anew, all while Nora is terrified to tell her she's more than just the girl who saved her life. Derrick's solo debut is a punch to the gut in the best way, filled with incredibly real, layered characters whose choices throughout the story feel earned. The gentle, compassionate writing puts readers right alongside Stevie as she figures out who she was and wants to be, and it's impossible not to root for her and Nora. Also especially resonant is Stevie's relationship with her mom, from whom she feels distanced but can't put her finger on why. The two find their way back to each other, and Stevie's parents' emotional growth is palpable throughout. A perfect read for anyone who loves a hauntingly sad LGBTQ+ story but wishes to have their heart treated with care.
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