You Say It First
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
An addictive, irresistible YA novel about two teens from different worlds who fall for each other after a voter registration call turns into a long-distance romance—from Katie Cotugno, the New York Times bestselling author of 99 Days. Perfect for fans of Mary H.K. Choi, Robin Benway, and Nicola Yoon.
One conversation can change everything.
Meg has her entire life set up perfectly: she and her best friend, Emily, plan to head to Cornell together in the fall, and she works at a voter registration call center in her Philadelphia suburb. But everything changes when one of those calls connects her to a stranger from small-town Ohio.
Colby is stuck in a rut, reeling from a family tragedy and working a dead-end job. The last thing he has time for is some privileged rich girl preaching the sanctity of the political process. So he says the worst thing he can think of and hangs up.
But things don’t end there.…
That night on the phone winds up being the first in a series of candid, sometimes heated, always surprising conversations that lead to a long-distance friendship and then—slowly—to something more. Across state lines and phone lines, Meg and Colby form a once-in-a-lifetime connection. But in the end, are they just too different to make it work?
You Say It First is a propulsive, layered novel about how sometimes the person who has the least in common with us can be the one who changes us most.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Living in the Philadelphia suburbs, Meg Warren, 18, is passionate about politics, giving speeches at her private school and volunteering for nonpartisan nonprofit WeCount to talk people through voter registration. It's WeCount that leads to her first phone conversation with fellow 18-year-old Colby Moran, who works a dead-end job in Alma, Ohio. After their heated argument about voting abruptly ends with Colby's confession that his father recently killed himself, Meg can't get Colby out of her head though she knows she should focus on her misgivings about attending Cornell in the fall and her mother's drinking problem, which has worsened since her parents' divorce. Calling Colby to apologize, Meg admits a secret of her own, leading to a long-distance confidence and eventual in-person romance, even as the duo's differences threaten the possibility of a real relationship. Alternating perspectives, Cotugno (How to Love) goes beyond romance and politics, adroitly tracing how both are changed by their conversations and experiences stepping into each other's contrasting worlds. While the relationship itself may feel contrived, its longevity seems less important than the honesty and courage each individual gains to face the future. Ages 13 up.
