A Taxonomy of Love
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4.3 • 6 Ratings
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A Georgia Center for the Book Book All Young Georgians Should Read
The moment Spencer meets Hope the summer before seventh grade, it’s . . . something at first sight. He knows she’s special, possibly even magical. The pair become fast friends, climbing trees and planning world travels. After years of being outshone by his older brother and teased because of his Tourette syndrome, Spencer finally feels like he belongs. But as Hope and Spencer get older and life gets messier, the clear label of “friend” gets messier, too.
Through sibling feuds and family tragedies, new relationships and broken hearts, the two grow together and apart, and Spencer, an aspiring scientist, tries to map it all out using his trusty system of taxonomy. He wants to identify and classify their relationship, but in the end, he finds that life doesn’t always fit into easy-to-manage boxes, and it’s this messy complexity that makes life so rich and beautiful.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Over the span of six years, Spencer and his neighbor Hope oscillate between being best friends and virtual strangers. When they first meet, he's a gawky 13-year-old with Tourette's syndrome, and she's a fearless wannabe adventurer. Spencer provides the lion's share of the narration, accompanied by flowchart-like taxonomies that he uses to try to chart and define their intense bond. Intermittent passages from Hope usually conversations with her older sister, Janie flesh out her side of the story. Spencer's anxiety seeps from the page as his everyday interactions comingle with his intrusive thoughts. But Hope's life is far from perfect: she falls for Spencer's older brother, grapples with a death in the family, and enters a self-destructive phase of grief just as Spencer is gaining social traction among his classmates as a wrestler. Allen (The Revenge Playbook) presents an honest look at adolescent attraction and life with a neurological disorder in a story populated by fully believable characters who are trying to figure out who they are and how they fit in the world. Ages 13 up.
