Review by Booklist Review
Parisa and Gabriela are seniors and besties who are as different as can be. Parisa is a privileged Iranian American girl who suffers from anxiety. Gabriela, of Mexican American heritage, loves to create art and wishes her two moms didn't have to struggle with work and bills. The girls' senior year comes to an unexpected halt when Adema-22, a virus that primarily affects the young, becomes a global pandemic and shuts down society. The girls' friendship experiences ups and downs during their forced separation, during which they communicate through texts and video chats; both feel stretched to their limits when misunderstandings can't be resolved in person. Timely in its address of pandemic conditions, cautions, and attitudes, this is sure to resonate with teens who have grappled with anxiety, isolation, or ambivalence during COVID-19. Told in alternating points of view, the story is supportive of teens' complicated feelings and mental-health issues, while being realistic in its incorporation of the demands placed on essential workers versus those who are able to work from home.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A fictional pandemic places two Los Angeles high school seniors' lives on hold in this timely novel by Saedi (Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card). Iranian American Harvard hopeful Parisa and best friend Gabriela, a Mexican American artist, have always made as much time for each other as they could between extracurriculars and after-school jobs. But when a global virus forces them into quarantine, they find themselves spending their final year of high school stuck in their homes, unable to see each other before imminent adulthood separates them. As the girls adjust to their new normal, Parisa's anxiety disorder worsens and Gabriela--who has always wondered about the extended family who cut themselves off from her mothers before her birth--feels more isolated than ever. Despite these stressors, the distance makes space for the teens' tertiary relationships to flourish, including Gabriela's long-simmering crush and Parisa's slowly thawing dynamic with her older sister. Alternating perspectives interspersed with text messages and email threads, all rendered in realistic teen voices, chronicle their lives from the start of senior year to graduation, resulting in an emotionally layered novel that earnestly demonstrates how life continues moving forward. Ages 14--up. Agent: Jessica Regel, Helm Literary. (Oct.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Two best friends navigate life and love as the world teeters on the brink of disaster. Parisa Naficy--a well-off, Harvard-bound, Iranian American valedictorian--has a privileged life, but she's consumed by extreme anxiety that she unsuccessfully attempts to hide. Beautiful, cool Mexican American Gabriela Gonzales leads a financially precarious existence with her lesbian moms and is haunted by their pasts; both women are estranged from their families due to their sexuality. The girls balance parental and cultural expectations with their own dreams. Their unlikely friendship withstood years of high school drama, but when the fictional ademavirus becomes a global pandemic disproportionately affecting young people, life as they know it is put on indefinite hold. The isolation brings out the best and worst in people, forcing both girls to reexamine themselves, their relationships, and what they value most as they work toward a new normal. Saedi's sensitive, witty writing style, both personable and deeply personal, makes this work more than yet another Covid fictionalization. The narration includes text message and email threads, reflecting the breakdowns of time and communication experienced in lockdown. The heavy subject matter is masterfully handled, juxtaposing raw episodes of sickness, loss, grief, and strained bonds with heartwarming conversations and budding relationships that shine a welcome light of hope into the darkness of uncertainty. Memorable and beautifully vulnerable. (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
