This One's for You
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A gorgeous contemporary romance about two ex-best friends, Cass and Syd, on a life-altering road trip following the reunion tour of the Darlas—the band Cass’s mom was in when she died. Perfect for fans of Nina LaCour, Mary H.K. Choi, and Jandy Nelson.
After their high school graduation, former best friends Cass and Syd are gearing up for their futures. Cass has planned to go to college to become an engineer, while Syd—despite the fact that her family thinks she’s messed up her whole life—has lined up a sound internship at a historic music venue.
But Cass is keeping secrets. Though his dad has forbidden it, Cass has been playing music, taking trips to San Francisco BART stations to play and make money. Somehow, it’s become a way for Cass to connect with his mother—who was also a musician—who died in a drunk driving accident on the way back from a gig when he was one.
But after Syd catches Cass playing at the BART station, and Cass finds out his mom’s old band the Darlas is going on a reunion tour, everything changes. On impulse, Cass invites Syd to the first Darlas show, and without telling anyone, they make a break for it. Turning one show into a cross-country journey, the two former friends throw away all their plans for the future and embark on a life-altering road trip following the tour, keeping it a secret from their friends and family.
Along the way, they’ll untangle the messy threads of how they became “ex”-best friends, experience the power of nature and music, and decide what they really want their lives to be. Maybe, through it all, Cass and Syd can find a way back to each other, too.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Amplifying raw emotion through imagery-rich prose, Sweeney (Catch the Light) explores mental health and the transition to adulthood against a contemporary music industry backdrop. Former best friends Sydney Greenfield and Caspian Forrester originally bonded over music, a passion hidden from both Syd's pragmatic mother, who insists she pursue a "steady job," and Cass's father, who's still grieving the death of Cass's musician mother, who died in an accident while driving home drunk after a gig. Grappling with parental pressure, post-graduation ambitions, and emotional overwhelm, the estranged friends serendipitously meet up after graduation and impulsively travel to see Cass's mom's bandmates, the Darlas, on tour. A single show turns into a cross-country journey during which the Darlas help the teens live out their musical dreams, but boundaries are tested as Syd and Cass dredge up their past hurts, and the duo must both reckon with their falling-out and decide whether they fit into each other's futures. Candid internal arcs and discussions of mental health elucidate therapy-positive messaging. By rooting the characters' internal development in their connection to art, Sweeney captures the sensory immersion of musical performance and elevates the novel's introspective plot via lyrical alternating perspectives. Characters cue as white. Ages 12–up.
