Good and Gone

August 1, 2017
A road trip leads to self-acceptance and inner strength. It's February, and Lexi Green's heartbroken 19-year-old brother, Charlie, has been occupying the sofa since he came home for winter break in December. When musician Adrian Wildes goes missing, Charlie suggests they find him. The last thing the 15-year-old white high school sophomore wants to do is traipse all over the Northeast searching for a musician whose music she despises, but someone needs to look after Charlie, who is still reeling from a breakup months before. They enlist their neighbor, gay white boy Zack, as driver. Lexi and Charlie's relationship is strained, primarily because Charlie's depression darkens his perspective and Lexi believes he's "sad because of nothing." Lexi's first-person narration is structured into two main, alternating parts: "Before" slowly reveals the events that led to a falling out with her best friends and to her breakup with Seth, a manipulative, patronizing faux feminist. "Now" is narrated in the present tense, and it's here that Lexi finally admits to herself and to Charlie what happened with Seth in a troubling encounter she's second-guessed the nature of for months. Lexi challenges male and female double standards by questioning them without pedantry or superiority; she's genuinely perplexed by society's conflicting messages about gender. Primary characters are white; four characters of color have minor roles. A well-balanced delivery of heavy topics tempered with wry humor. (Fiction. 13-18)

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September 25, 2017
The darkly comic voice of 15-year-old Lexi Green powers this road trip adventure and navigates its serious underpinnings. The disappearance of famous musician Adrian Wilkes finally spurs Lexi’s older brother, Charlie, off the couch after dropping out of college for reasons unknown. Intending to find Wilkes, Charlie sets out from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania, bringing along Lexi and their neighbor Zach, who has a “rolling two-door wreck” to get them there. The narrative alternates between the events of their journey and “Before” sections that flash back to Lexi’s relationship and breakup with charming but manipulative Seth, a pseudofeminist with control issues. Blakemore (Very in Pieces) gradually reveals the more threatening elements of what “went down” between Lexi and Seth, as well as Charlie’s depression. The varied cast includes a personable hitchhiker named Harper, junkies who try to steal Zach’s decrepit car, and Seth’s ex, who attempted to warn Lexi about him. Strong foreshadowing hints at the truth about Seth and Lexi’s history, the lack of consequences for which is all too realistic. Ages 13–up. Agent: Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties.

October 1, 2017

Gr 10 Up-When pop star, Adrian Wildes goes missing, it serves as the catalyst for a road trip escape that Lexi, her brother Charlie, and their neighbor Zach need to sort out their problems. Lexi is processing a breakup and suspects Charlie is, too, which is why he dropped out of college. Zach is avoiding his parents who have stopped talking to each other. In chapters that alternate between the past and present, readers learn more about Lexi's unhealthy relationship with Seth. The road trip is filled with adventures like an overnight stay in Zach's cousin's dorm, a hitchhiker encounter, and bathroom break at a strip club. As the search for Adrian Wildes moves forward, unresolved sibling conflict between Lexi and Charlie escalates and teens learn that there is more to Lexi's breakup and Charlie's behavior than is initially revealed. Both siblings are too caught up in their own problems to see that the other is really hurting and needs their support. Blakemore tackles issues like rape and mental illness while accurately capturing the language, angst, and melodrama that is being a modern teenager. VERDICT An achingly accurate, well-rounded contemporary read that will be of broad interest for most teen collections.-Adrienne L. Strock, Nashville Public Library

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2017
Grades 8-10 After spending weeks on the couch instead of at college where he belongs, 15-year-old Lexi's brother Charlie abruptly announces that he needs to locate Adrian Wildes, the top 40 singer-songwriter who walked away from fame. Lexi jolts into protective mode; someone needs to keep an eye on him, and it likely won't be Zack, their friend with the car. The intrigue of a missing, possibly doomed pop star and the adventure of a road trip cloak the siblings' inner struggles on this midwinter sojourn through rural New England. Lexi has a lot of time in the backseat to contemplate a mystery of her own: Just how did things go so wrong with Seth, her sneering, T-shirt-wearing feminist ex-boyfriend? The narration weaves in and out of time, leading Lexi on a personal journey to understand the truth and ramifications of Seth's actions. With life lessons, capers, and heartfelt conversations abounding, this is a satisfying, mature, complex read, ideally suited to teen book clubs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018
Lexi's heartbroken older brother, Charlie, rarely leaves the couch. Then a famous pop balladeer goes missing, and Charlie wants to find him. Lexi, brokenhearted herself, accompanies him on his journey. In between visits to quirky small towns, each sibling eventually reveals intense secrets, which Blakemore handles delicately. The focus on their sibling bond is refreshing but doesn't quite transcend the trite road-trip story line.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)