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Reviewed by: In the Orbit of You by Ashley Schumacher Cassidy Russell Schumacher, Ashley In the Orbit of You. Wednesday/St. Martin's, 2024 320p Trade ed. ISBN 9781250886040 20. 00 E-book ed. ISBN 9781250886057 11. 99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 8-10 Nova and her mother's wandering lifestyle has allowed Nova to try on different personas, but as she begins a two-month stint at her sixth high school in two years, she vows to use the time to figure out who she really is and who she wants to be. Her plan to slide under the radar and spend time solo is upended when Sam, her long-lost childhood best friend, sits down at the lunch table next to her. Years before, when Sam went to live with his aunt and uncle, he and Nova made a promise to find each other again someday, and now here he is, but nothing like Nova had imagined, a football god with a cheerleader girlfriend. Underneath his perfect exterior, however, he's rife with anxieties stemming from a childhood of neglect and physical abuse from his parents. Now, the two teens must decide whether to give in to how they feel toward each other, potentially hurting everyone close to them, or stay apart and subsequently miserable. The book switches between Sam and Nova's first-person perspectives, allowing the reader to fully understand both their gravitational pull toward each other and their conflicted feelings about it. Sam feels especially well-developed as he deals with PTSD and his resulting fear of letting anyone in his life down, but he and Nova also deal with worries that will be relatable to any teen, from hormones to college majors. A series of satisfying romance tropes End Page 262 culminate in an actual lightning strike, but the book manages to avoid becoming trite, focusing on the growth—and commitment to future growth—of both main characters. Schumacher's romance is full of enough grit to satisfy a less-romantic reader while serving up a happily-ever-after that feels deserved. Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
Cassidy Russell (Tue,) studied this question.
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