My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.Ī Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. Though the resolution is rushed, it is also satisfying-just as satisfying as Sam and Jase's first night together Everything's going so well that readers will feel as sucker punched as the characters when catastrophe strikes. The leisurely pace encompasses a subplot in which one of Sam's oldest friends, now an alcoholic and drug addict, begins his healing at the hands of the Garretts as well.

The story unfolds slowly, Samantha's present-tense narration smart, funny and mildly astonished at the changes wrought by her new relationship. His family is equally beguiling, a dramatic foil for Samantha's sterile life with her campaigning mother. Fitzpatrick delivers an almost perfect summer romance: The way Jase woos Samantha-gently, with humor, patience and a joint trip to CVS to pick out condoms-will have every girl who reads the novel wishing for a Jase of her own. When gorgeous Jase climbs up to talk to her one night, she begins to loosen her emotional stays for the first time in her life. But Samantha finds herself fascinated, watching the messy, boisterous family from the roof outside her window. The burgeoning family (seven children by the time Samantha turns 17) is white trash as far as she's concerned. Her perfectionist, state-senator mother hasn't forgiven 'those Garretts' for moving next door 10 years ago. Good-girl Samantha finds herself when she falls for the boy next door.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick