The Other Side of Infinity
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
They Both Die at the End meets The Butterfly Effect in this YA novel by Joan F. Smith, where a teen uses her gift of foreknowledge to help a lifeguard save a drowning man—only to discover that her actions have suddenly put his life at risk.
It was supposed to be an ordinary day at the pool, but when lifeguard Nick hesitates during a save,
seventeen-year-old December uses her gift of foreknowledge to rescue the drowning man instead. The action comes at a cost. Not only will Nick and December fall in love, but also, she envisions that his own life is now at risk. The other problem? They’re basically strangers.
December embarks on a mission to save Nick’s life, and to experience what it feels like to fall in love—something she’d formerly known she’d never do. Nick, battling the shame of screwing up the rescue when he’s heralded as a community hero, resolves to make up for his inaction by doing December a major solid and searching for her mother, who went missing nine years ago.
As they grow closer, December’s gift starts playing tricks, and Nick’s family gets closer to an ugly truth about him. They both must learn what it really means to be a hero before time runs out.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A secretly prophetic teen and a dyslexic lifeguard, both 17 and white-cued, navigate first love amid rapidly unfolding events in this speculative romance from Smith (The Half-Orphan's Handbook) that's reminiscent of The Butterfly Effect. Nick Irving, a lifeguard at a public Boston pool, inexplicably panics when a patron becomes unresponsive. December Jones, who has preternatural access to everybody's memories and futures, intervenes, rescuing the man and inadvertently rewriting the future of every person in attendance, including Nick, whose death she foretells. When a local newspaper claims that Nick single-handedly rescued the pool-goer, he insists that December come forward. She agrees, but only in exchange for helping her locate her mother, who abandoned December when she was seven. Despite her gift, her mom's whereabouts are December's only blank spot. While Nick's efforts initially prove fruitless, he eventually unravels the truth. Unbeknownst to the teens, however, their mission has unintended consequences with grave repercussions. The supernatural elements, and their connectivity with December's mom's disappearance and the teens' developing relationship, don't quite gel together. Nevertheless, Smith sensitively renders the duo's complex internality through their magnetic alternating perspectives, which propel this romantic mystery at a gripping clip. Ages 14–up.