The In-Between Bookstore
A whimsical, time-bending debut about identity, memory, and what we'd say to our younger selves if we had the chance
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3.7 • 6 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
'Underhill's tender, innovative debut is the smartest take on this trope I've ever read' Jodi Picoult, #1 Sunday Times bestselling author
'Underhill skilfully employs a clever set-up and a queer lens to explore the deep changes we all experience in growing up' Steven Rowley, New York Times bestselling author of The Guncle
A whimsical and healing novel about a trans man in New York who - almost 30, laid off, broke - moves back to his small Illinois hometown, walks into the bookstore he worked at in high school... and slips through time to come face to face with his pre-transition, teenage self.
If you had one chance to talk to your younger self… would you? What would you say?
When Darby left Oak Falls for university in New York City, all he wanted was to get as far away as possible, find a community where he could start afresh -- and finally forget about his childhood best friend Michael, and just how painfully their friendship ended.
Now, about to turn 30, Darby suddenly finds himself unemployed. With no better alternative, and questioning where he really belongs, he moves back to his hometown. But the changes in Oak Falls make him feel off balance. And Michael's still there, their relationship still distant and strained.
One thing is familiar: In Between Books, Darby's refuge growing up and high school job. When he walks inside, Darby feels an eerie sense of déjà vu – everything is exactly the same. Even the newspapers are dated 2009. And behind the till is a teen who looks a lot like Darby did at sixteen... a teen who just might give him the opportunity to change his own present for the better – if he can figure out how before his connection to the past vanishes forever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A trans man returns to his hometown and encounters his teen self in this tender adult debut from YA author Underhill (This Day Changes Everything). On the cusp of turning 30 and just laid off from his New York City startup job, Darby Madden travels to rural Oak Falls, Ill., to help his mom move out of his childhood home. When Darby visits the bookstore where he worked as a teenager, he discovers it hasn't changed and is surprised that the bookseller on duty looks just like he did before his transition. Before he sorts out whether entering the bookstore caused him to travel through time, and if he really did see his previous self, Darby bumps into Michael Weaver, the best friend who cut him off after Darby transferred to a boarding school during their senior year. As Darby tries to figure out what went wrong between them, a kiss from Michael throws him even further out of sorts. The story has the feel of a YA novel with adult characters—Darby worries he's "still not cool enough" for New York City after 12 years there, the plot is shaped by lingering high school drama—but Underhill lands the speculative elements with precision. Grown-up fans of YA fiction will appreciate this bittersweet tale.
