Mark H. Parsons

teen fiction - grief, creative therapy, family helping each other after loss, befriending the mysterious misfit girl who won't give the time of day.

Really sweet, compelling characters with so much going on in each of their lives, and attention paid to each of their individual storylines, plus lots of sharp dialogue and plenty of heart. In a word: refreshing!

The main character Jamison also has synesthesia, which normally I would roll my eyes at because he'd be maybe the fifth such fictional character I've read about with this very rare condition, but in the author's note it's explained that the author actually has it, and isn't just writing about it because it's cool, but also that he experiences it differently than it has been portrayed in other books -- so that's fine (and also the way he described it here is markedly different from other descriptions I've read which may or may not have been written by an actual synesthetic person.… (mehr)

In addition to many things, this is a case of fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Jamison's been stuck in grief since his mom died of cancer at 9:09 pm. As you read about how he's come to use that exact time and a particular street corner to take photos, there comes a point where he thinks back to that exact moment, allowing you to really understand why it stuck with him. Then, there are the other characters in the book; his still grieving and very thoughtful father, his younger sister, his best friend, the manipulative girl he once had a crush on, the stereotypical horndogs he sometimes sits with, and AK47, the mysterious and prickly new girl who is the one who 'gets' him better than anyone. When these are mixed together, the cherry on top are the quotes starting each chapter by Dorothea Lange sharing her thoughts about photography, and the evolution of the 9:09 website he and his friend have created There's more good stuff I could add, but you can read the book to find them. It's a stunner and deserves a spot in many libraries.… (mehr)