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Searching... Arvin Branch Library (Kern Co.) | Searching... Unknown | Teen Fiction | YA FIC HUTACHINS SHA | Searching... Unknown |
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Searching... Reedley Branch Library (Fresno Co.) | Searching... Unknown | Teen Fiction Area | HUTCHIN SH At_the | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
From the author of We Are the Ants comes "another winner" ( Booklist , starred review) about a boy who believes the universe is slowly shrinking as things he remembers are being erased from others' memories.
Tommy and Ozzie have been best friends since the second grade, and boyfriends since eighth. They spent countless days dreaming of escaping their small town--and then Tommy vanished.
More accurately, he ceased to exist, erased from the minds and memories of everyone who knew him. Everyone except Ozzie.
Ozzie doesn't know how to navigate life without Tommy, and soon he suspects that something else is going on: that the universe is shrinking.
When Ozzie is paired up with the reclusive and secretive Calvin for a physics project, it's hard for him to deny the feelings developing between them, even if he still loves Tommy.
But Ozzie knows there isn't much time left to find Tommy--that once the door closes, it can't be opened again. And he's determined to keep it open as long as possible.
Author Notes
Shaun David Hutchinson is the author of numerous books for young adults, including The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried , The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza , At the Edge of the Universe , and We Are the Ants . He also edited the anthologies Violent Ends and Feral Youth and wrote the memoir Brave Face , which chronicles his struggles with depression and coming out during his teenage years. He lives in Seattle, where he enjoys drinking coffee, yelling at the TV, and eating cake. Visit him at ShaunDavidHutchinson.com or on Twitter @ShaunieDarko.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The universe appears to be literally shrinking around Ozzie Pinkerton: erasing people, obliterating the stars, and reducing the world to little more than his town of Cloud Lake, Fla. Ozzie alone remembers the world as it was, and he's also grappling with graduation, the vanished boyfriend whose very existence is now in question, his parents' divorce, his brother's enlistment in the military, and the secrets he's keeping for his new friend Calvin. As in We Are the Ants, Hutchinson uses a science fiction overlay to explore important topics, including self-mutilation, gender identity, and child abuse. Ozzie's friends remind him that the world doesn't revolve around him, but Hutchinson playfully disagrees, turning the literal shrinking of the universe into a smart metaphor for Ozzie's introversion and alienation. Ozzie's wit and concern for his friends make him a captivating narrator frozen by the changes and choices he faces. The conceit also works as a powerful parable for victimization, as everything Ozzie knows is stolen and the people he should be able to trust constantly undermine him-or disappear altogether. Ages 14-up. Agent: Amy Boggs, Donald Maass Literary. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
The universe isn't expanding anymore it's actually shrinking, and Florida high-school senior Ozzie is the only one who remembers it differently. He's also the only one who remembers Tommy, his best friend since childhood and boyfriend since the eighth grade. Tommy has vanished, both from Ozzie's life and from the memories of everyone around him. As graduation approaches and Ozzie's world becomes literally smaller, he struggles to find Tommy with increasing desperation, even as he grows closer to Calvin, the quiet, elusive boy in his physics class. Occasionally nihilistic but never completely hopeless, the narrative supports multiple topics with grace: gender and sexual identities, mental illness, and the inevitable grief that comes with learning to move from one phase of life to another. A few familiar faces from Hutchinson's We Are the Ants (2016) make cameo appearances, and fans will recognize similar motifs Hutchinson writes variations on a theme, to be sure, but it's a rich theme. Wrenching and thought-provoking, Hutchinson has penned another winner.--Reagan, Maggie Copyright 2016 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Oswald "Ozzie" Pinkerton is facing a gauntlet of problems: his parents are divorcing; his older brother is skipping college to join the military, and Ozzie is afraid he'll be killed; and Ozzie's boyfriend since eighth grade, Tommy, has vanished. To make matters worse, everyone in the town of Cloud Lake seems to have erased Tommy from their memories, even Ozzie and Tommy's best friends, gender-fluid punk rocker Lua and quiet valedictorian Dustin. Also, the universe is shrinking, and Ozzie appears to be the only person who realizes it. Ozzie has no idea how to function without Tommy, but when he's paired with solitary Calvin for a physics project and Calvin mentions Tommy's name, Ozzie begins to hope that Tommy is still out there. Hutchinson follows up We Are the Ants with a deep and introspective novel full of angst and suffering. Readers will feel Ozzie's nearly radiant pain, but Universe isn't singularly focused. All of the characters are neatly fleshed out and have their own personal anguish: Lua deals with being gender-fluid in a small town; Dustin, whose father loses the family fortune, has to confront a future where his dreams cannot be attained; and Ozzie's trials serve as a lens through which readers can examine the scope of human experience in this (shrinking) universe. VERDICT A closing revelation may frustrate some, but this smartly written, profound look at the wells of human despair will stay with readers. Recommended for all YA collections where Hutchinson's work circulates heavily.-Tyler Hixson, School Library Journal © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
If your boyfriend is erased from history, is it because the universe is shrinking, or have you totally lost your mind?During senior year in high school, college applications and prom dates are the stresses du jour. But Oswald "Ozzie" Pinkerton's also include trying to convince anyone (family, friends, an alphabetical string of therapists) that his boyfriend, Tommy, ever existed. They theorize that Ozzie is obsessive and slightly touched; he theorizes that the universe is shrinking and that Tommy was a casualty of restricting astral girth. As Ozzie tracks the solar system's diminishing waist size, his still-existing world unravels and conversely weaves new chapters. One of these chapters is Calvin, a once-golden, now-reclusive student. When the two are paired for a physics project, Ozzie weighs his loyalty to absent Tommy against his growing attraction to present Calvin. A varied cast of characters populates the pages: there's a genderqueer girl who prefers masculine pronouns, a black boyfriend, an Asian/Jewish (by way of adoption) best friend, and a bevy of melting-pot surnames. Ozzie is a white male, and he is respectfully called out on underestimating the privilege he enjoys for being just that. Though Ozzie primarily narrates in the past tense (with sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll drifting through the background), intermittent flashbacks in the present tense unveil the tender, intimate history of Ozzie's relationship with Tommy. An earthy, existential coming-of-age gem. (Fantasy. 14 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.