Before I start this review, I'd like to announce that I set my Goodreads goal to 50 in 2018. Since I hit 58 in 2017 I considered making it higher, but I also want to push myself to read more adult fiction and nonfiction this year, which take longer to read. Then again, I will be running two youth book clubs this year, which is 24 middle grade and YA novels right there. So. I will probably read 60-70 children's and YA titles this year. Que sera, sera.
WARNING: SPOILERS ARE COMING. If you haven't read the book, you will learn things you shouldn't until the end of the book. Just trust me, this book is amazing; read it, then come back and read this entry. Recommend it to every teen in your library while you're at it. Yeah, it's that good.
Moving on...
Book info:
Title: You Don't Know Me But I Know You
Author: Rebecca Barrow
Year Published: 2017
ISBN: 9780062494191
Interest Level: Grades 9-12
Plot Summary (from Goodreads):
Rebecca Barrow’s bright, honest debut novel about chance, choice, and unconditional love is a heartfelt testament to creating the future you truly want, one puzzle piece at a time.
There’s a box in the back of Audrey’s closet that she rarely thinks about.
Inside is a letter, seventeen years old, from a mother she’s never met, handed to her by the woman she’s called Mom her whole life. Being adopted, though, is just one piece in the puzzle of Audrey’s life—the picture painstakingly put together by Audrey herself, full of all the people and pursuits that make her who she is.
But when Audrey realizes that she’s pregnant, she feels something—a tightly sealed box in the closet corners of her heart—crack open, spilling her dormant fears and unanswered questions all over the life she loves.
Almost two decades ago, a girl in Audrey’s situation made a choice, one that started Audrey’s entire story. Now Audrey is paralyzed by her own what-ifs and terrified by the distance she feels growing between her and her best friend Rose. Down every possible path is a different unfamiliar version of her life, and as she weighs the options in her mind, she starts to wonder—what does it even mean to be Audrey Spencer?
You Don't Know Me But I Know You is without a doubt the most diverse YA novel I have ever come across. I added the disclaimer about spoilers because I can't even list all the ways it shows diversity in modern teens without giving away a major plot point.
The main character, Audrey, is a mixed race teenager who lived with her single, white mom. Her mom, an ex-movie star, adopted Audrey by herself when she was single. So already we have a mixed race family, single parent family, and adoption.
There is also very realistic bisexual representation in the form of Audrey's best friend, Rose. Rose has dated guys and girls, and during the course of the book gets over her ex-girlfriend, sleeps with a guy friend at a party, and then overcomes her relationship fears and enters into a healthy and loving relationship with the new girl in school. This character is some of the best LGBTQ+ representation I've seen in recent YA literature, because this facet of her being is accepted by her friends, and mentioned without it constantly (and unrealistically) monopolizing every conversation. Rose has other things going on in her life, like her absentee parents; like in real life, her queerness does not define everything about her existence.
Sex is presented in a very positive way in this book as well. It is understood that teens have sex, birth control should be made available, and if an accidental pregnancy happens, it's something to deal with and not the end of the world. The adults in the book are very understanding when Audrey and her boyfriend slip up and get pregnant, even though they were using birth control. Once again, the fact that they are having sex does not define them.
HERE IS WHERE THE SPOILERS KICK IN so if you're still reading and haven't read the book yet, bookmark the page and go read the book first.
It is also really realistic how Audrey finally comes to the decision to end her pregnancy. She has a lot of open communication with her boyfriend (something else that doesn't usually happen in books in favor of dramatically fighting couples), and they consider all options. What it would be like to be parents, how it would feel to carry the baby to term and then give it up for adoption, and whether the best choice is abortion. Audrey's own status as an adoptee comes into play in the form of a letter from her birth mother. What ultimately convinces her that abortion is the right choice is, in fact, the letter where her birth mother tells her about her life 17 years after giving Audrey up for adoption. I love, love, love this twist. Audrey reads the letter and realizes that, like her birth mother choosing adoption because it was the best choice for her at the time, she needs to choose abortion so she can go on without disrupting all the important plans she has for her life. She takes a long time to land on abortion after a lot of careful consideration.
The abortion scene itself is very well done. The doctor and nurse are nonjudgmental, the procedure is presented as clinical and not scary, and her mental state during and afterward are curious but calm. It makes me so happy that YA literature has come far enough in its evolution that an abortion scene can be presented scientifically and without any sort of preaching. The genre has come a long way from killing off LGBTQ+ characters as a form of karms after they made out with someone of the same sex. More info about that weird recurring phenomenon in They Have Faces Too: LGBTQ Literature, Then and Now, an article I read this week by Michael Cart on the Booklist website.
I feel like this book would be an amazing pick for my Young Adult Diversity Book Club. Why is it diverse? Let me count the ways...
In conclusion, I am completely in love with this book. This is Rebecca Barrow's debut novel, and I cannot wait to see what she comes out with in the next couple of years! She is definitely an author to watch, because great things will continue to come from her. Unrelated, I want to be her best friend. She just looks like she'd be a really cool buddy to eat Chinese food and watch Netflix with, doesn't she?
WARNING: SPOILERS ARE COMING. If you haven't read the book, you will learn things you shouldn't until the end of the book. Just trust me, this book is amazing; read it, then come back and read this entry. Recommend it to every teen in your library while you're at it. Yeah, it's that good.
Moving on...
Book info:
Title: You Don't Know Me But I Know You
Author: Rebecca Barrow
Year Published: 2017
ISBN: 9780062494191
Interest Level: Grades 9-12
Plot Summary (from Goodreads):
Rebecca Barrow’s bright, honest debut novel about chance, choice, and unconditional love is a heartfelt testament to creating the future you truly want, one puzzle piece at a time.
There’s a box in the back of Audrey’s closet that she rarely thinks about.
Inside is a letter, seventeen years old, from a mother she’s never met, handed to her by the woman she’s called Mom her whole life. Being adopted, though, is just one piece in the puzzle of Audrey’s life—the picture painstakingly put together by Audrey herself, full of all the people and pursuits that make her who she is.
But when Audrey realizes that she’s pregnant, she feels something—a tightly sealed box in the closet corners of her heart—crack open, spilling her dormant fears and unanswered questions all over the life she loves.
Almost two decades ago, a girl in Audrey’s situation made a choice, one that started Audrey’s entire story. Now Audrey is paralyzed by her own what-ifs and terrified by the distance she feels growing between her and her best friend Rose. Down every possible path is a different unfamiliar version of her life, and as she weighs the options in her mind, she starts to wonder—what does it even mean to be Audrey Spencer?
You Don't Know Me But I Know You is without a doubt the most diverse YA novel I have ever come across. I added the disclaimer about spoilers because I can't even list all the ways it shows diversity in modern teens without giving away a major plot point.
The main character, Audrey, is a mixed race teenager who lived with her single, white mom. Her mom, an ex-movie star, adopted Audrey by herself when she was single. So already we have a mixed race family, single parent family, and adoption.
There is also very realistic bisexual representation in the form of Audrey's best friend, Rose. Rose has dated guys and girls, and during the course of the book gets over her ex-girlfriend, sleeps with a guy friend at a party, and then overcomes her relationship fears and enters into a healthy and loving relationship with the new girl in school. This character is some of the best LGBTQ+ representation I've seen in recent YA literature, because this facet of her being is accepted by her friends, and mentioned without it constantly (and unrealistically) monopolizing every conversation. Rose has other things going on in her life, like her absentee parents; like in real life, her queerness does not define everything about her existence.
Sex is presented in a very positive way in this book as well. It is understood that teens have sex, birth control should be made available, and if an accidental pregnancy happens, it's something to deal with and not the end of the world. The adults in the book are very understanding when Audrey and her boyfriend slip up and get pregnant, even though they were using birth control. Once again, the fact that they are having sex does not define them.
HERE IS WHERE THE SPOILERS KICK IN so if you're still reading and haven't read the book yet, bookmark the page and go read the book first.
It is also really realistic how Audrey finally comes to the decision to end her pregnancy. She has a lot of open communication with her boyfriend (something else that doesn't usually happen in books in favor of dramatically fighting couples), and they consider all options. What it would be like to be parents, how it would feel to carry the baby to term and then give it up for adoption, and whether the best choice is abortion. Audrey's own status as an adoptee comes into play in the form of a letter from her birth mother. What ultimately convinces her that abortion is the right choice is, in fact, the letter where her birth mother tells her about her life 17 years after giving Audrey up for adoption. I love, love, love this twist. Audrey reads the letter and realizes that, like her birth mother choosing adoption because it was the best choice for her at the time, she needs to choose abortion so she can go on without disrupting all the important plans she has for her life. She takes a long time to land on abortion after a lot of careful consideration.
The abortion scene itself is very well done. The doctor and nurse are nonjudgmental, the procedure is presented as clinical and not scary, and her mental state during and afterward are curious but calm. It makes me so happy that YA literature has come far enough in its evolution that an abortion scene can be presented scientifically and without any sort of preaching. The genre has come a long way from killing off LGBTQ+ characters as a form of karms after they made out with someone of the same sex. More info about that weird recurring phenomenon in They Have Faces Too: LGBTQ Literature, Then and Now, an article I read this week by Michael Cart on the Booklist website.
I feel like this book would be an amazing pick for my Young Adult Diversity Book Club. Why is it diverse? Let me count the ways...
- Mixed race main character
- Single parent family
- Mixed race family
- Adoption
- Teen pregnancy
- Bisexual representation
- Sex positivity
- Abortion
Most books include one, maybe two subjects that make them diverse. This one has EIGHT! That's unheard of, and amazing. Did you read the book and spot more diversity that I missed? Leave me a comment!
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| Author Rebecca Barrow |
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