MAY 2014 - AudioFile
A dual narration deftly contrasts the two characters featured in this novel, which starts out in New York City. During a citywide blackout, Lucy is trapped in the elevator of her high-rise with Owen, the super’s son. Their differing classes and backgrounds are obvious in their snappy, sometimes snarky, dialogue. Corey Bradbury adopts a cynical tone for Owen, who has come to the city after his mother’s death and is alienated from his new life. At first, Leslie Bellair presents Lucy as playful and upbeat, but soon she layers this external cheer with a wistful tone that reveals Lucy’s feelings of abandonment by her continually traveling parents. The narrators show the duo’s shared loneliness as well as the connection that grows between them. S.W. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
02/17/2014
Owen and Lucy meet when they get stuck in a New York City elevator during a widespread power outage. They quickly connect, spending an intimate (but chaste) night looking at stars from the roof of their building. When the electricity returns, so do real-life complications: Owen and his father, devastated by his mother’s recent death, decide to drive west for a fresh start; meanwhile, Lucy moves to Scotland for her father’s work. At first, they stay in touch—Owen mails sweet postcards, and Lucy sends “slightly rambling” emails—but they begin to doubt the strength of their connection (“How long could a single night really be expected to last?” Lucy wonders). Smith (This Is What Happy Looks Like) has written a sweet, moody story that can also be deeply heartbreaking, as when Owen and his father return to pack up their old house, only to find “the real measures of the lives here were now well and truly gone.” There are plenty of romantic sigh-worthy moments, too, but it’s Owen and Lucy’s individual journeys that really hit home. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jennifer Joel, ICM. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
Praise for TheGeography of You and Me: A VOYA Perfect Tens 2014 SelectionA YALSA 2015 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers SelectionA YALSA 2015 Teens Top Ten Nominee
* "The meet-cute master behind The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and This Is What Happy Looks Like delivers her best book yet, a straightforward, old-fashioned swoon-fest that, in another time, would be a film starring Audrey Hepburn."--Booklist, starred review
* "Fans of Smith's previous works, namely The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, and other love stories like John Green's The Fault in Our Stars and David Levithan's Every Day will like this novel, which is a similar combination of head and heart...A welcome addition to any library."--VOYA, starred review
"The Geography of You and Me is a magic, magic book. It will take you to a place where we all want to live, where true love overcomes any distance."--Huntley Fitzpatrick, author of My Life Next Door and What I Thought Was True
"A heart-shaking exploration of a fragile long-distance relationship...Deftly romantic and anchored in an age when the Internet has made long distance a much more familiar concept for teenagers, this is a fantastic story."--Vanity Fair
"If it was just a travel story or just a love story, The Geography of You and Me would still be perfect, but it's both and more. I loved this book!"--Lauren Morrill, author of Meant to Be and Being Sloane Jacobs
"Jennifer E. Smith represents the absolute best in YA writing, and readers will carry this poignant love story in their hearts long after the last sentence is read."--Susane Colasanti, bestselling author of When It Happens
"Smith captures the romantic sparks that fly in unusual situations and the way love can build even when circumstances keep people apart. If you like your romances with a bit of European adventure, some New York glamour, and a lot of honest heart, this one's for you."--E. Lockhart, author of The Boyfriend List and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
"Smith has written a sweet, moody story that can also be deeply heartbreaking...There are plenty of romantic sigh-worthy moments, too, but it's Owen and Lucy's individual journeys that really hit home."--Publishers Weekly
"The greatest space between two people is measured in emotions, not miles. The Geography of You and Me is a true, tender long-distance love story guaranteed to strike a resonant chord in hopeful romantics everywhere."--Megan McCafferty, bestselling author of the Jessica Darling series and Bumped
"Truth about love always gets our attention, and this book will catch readers'."--Kirkus Reviews
starred review Booklist
* "The meet-cute master behind The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight and This Is What Happy Looks Like delivers her best book yet, a straightforward, old-fashioned swoon-fest that, in another time, would be a film starring Audrey Hepburn."
MAY 2014 - AudioFile
A dual narration deftly contrasts the two characters featured in this novel, which starts out in New York City. During a citywide blackout, Lucy is trapped in the elevator of her high-rise with Owen, the super’s son. Their differing classes and backgrounds are obvious in their snappy, sometimes snarky, dialogue. Corey Bradbury adopts a cynical tone for Owen, who has come to the city after his mother’s death and is alienated from his new life. At first, Leslie Bellair presents Lucy as playful and upbeat, but soon she layers this external cheer with a wistful tone that reveals Lucy’s feelings of abandonment by her continually traveling parents. The narrators show the duo’s shared loneliness as well as the connection that grows between them. S.W. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2014-03-03
As she did in The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight (2012), Smith fashions long-distance travel into a metaphor for the leaps of faith that love demands. Lucy and Owen live in the same Manhattan building but don't meet until they're stuck in a sweltering elevator during a blackout. Their brief ordeal's long enough for them to connect while their defenses are down. Grief over his mother's death has numbed Owen to his changed life—moving from rural Pennsylvania with his father, now the building's superintendent. With her affluent parents abroad and her brothers newly away at college, Lucy's long-standing loneliness has acquired a sharp edge. The blackout continues after they're rescued, and dealing with it together shatters the cocoon each lives in. They ramble the crowded streets before ascending to the roof, where they fall asleep under a starry sky. When Lucy wakes up, Owen's gone; his dad needs help managing the blackout's aftermath. By the time they reconnect, Lucy's moving abroad, while Owen and his newly unemployed dad are heading west. The alternating narration builds tension as the two both live their separate lives and recollect their fragile bond, giving readers access to the closely observed emotions of each, something neither has. If the emotional authenticity points up less-believable plot points (if only applying to college were so easy!), it also eclipses those lapses. Truth about love always gets our attention, and this book will catch readers'. (Fiction. 12-18)
