No Parking at the End Times
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Abigail's parents believed the world was going to end. And—of course—it didn't. But they've lost everything anyway. And she must decide: does she still believe in them? Or is it time to believe in herself? Fans of Sara Zarr, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell will connect with this moving debut.
Abigail's parents never should have made that first donation to that end-of-times preacher. Or the next, or the next. They shouldn't have sold their house. Or packed Abigail and her twin brother, Aaron, into their old van to drive across the country to San Francisco, to be there for the "end of the world." Because now they're living in their van. And Aaron is full of anger, disappearing to who-knows-where every night. Their family is falling apart. All Abigail wants is to hold them together, to get them back to the place where things were right.
But maybe it's too big a task for one teenage girl. Bryan Bliss's thoughtful debut novel is about losing everything—and about what you will do for the people you love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Abigail and her twin brother, Aaron, live in a van in San Francisco, begging for meals from local churches and waiting for the end of the world with their fervently religious father and dutiful mother. After their zealot preacher's prediction falls short, the teens approach their breaking points, desperate for some semblance of normalcy. The family's hapless circumstances provide a distinctive backdrop for this contemplative coming-of-age tale, Bliss's debut. As a homeless teen, Abigail is unfairly and abruptly cast in a parental role when her parents fail to provide the basic necessities, selling their home and giving their money to a man who is little more than a con artist. Bliss's languidly paced story focuses on Abigail's internal turmoil as she questions her faith, her parents' sanity, and her bond with her brother. But there are plenty of external events to push the story forward, from the siblings' late-night explorations with street kids they befriend to Abigail's jogs, which serve as much-needed escapes from her claustrophobic existence. Ages 14 up.
