Description
Jesse’s real life is in Pennsylvania, where he spends most summers hanging out with Chloe and Ava. They have been best friends forever, but Jesse has a crush on both. This summer was to be the pinnacle of their teenage lives, but his parents’ crumbling marriage ends summer early, leaving Jesse wondering if that afternoon with Chloe meant something; if that glance and quick kiss from Ava is something more. As if all that is not bad enough, a new deadly virus is sweeping into the United States and now he can’t just go to Chloe and Ava and tell them what he wants and how he feels. Real life is coming to Jesse, in a big way, and he will have choices to make.
Like many of Sonnenblick’s books, this story doesn’t have a lot of action. There are no fist fights or explosions, but the developing relationships between Jesse and the girls combined with the difficult relationships with his family makes for a beautiful story of love and survival. The pandemic as a backdrop helps to serve as a battlefield for helping Jesse learn what he wants, and provide readers a way to process that terribly traumatic time.
