Semi Finalist
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: On the cusp of turning 16, Carly Klein tries to juggle school and her parents’ conflict-ridden relationship while living vicariously through stolen stories of her mother’s psychiatry patients. One in particular draws her attention the most—Daniel, a blind man attending Columbia College—and soon she’s secretly following him, posing as a fellow college student to get close. As her fixation grows, Carly is thrust into a web of deceit and infatuation that rains down both devastating endings and revolutionary beginnings in her life.
Prose: The prose is delicate but precise and clear, building Carly’s world with gentle lines and evocative musings.
Originality: Harlan’s story sets up quickly before devolving into a twisty tangle of duplicity that creatively gives birth to a new Carly. Readers will be entranced with the novel’s transformation.
Character/Execution: Carly is an enigma of endearing and troubled, hiding her angst surprisingly well from her family—and herself. Her metamorphosis is gratifying, brimming with lessons on the uneven paths that often lead to the most worthwhile destinations.
Date Submitted: May 23, 2024
With sparkling prose and witty dialogue, Harlan captures the electric energy and tension of a teen awkwardly keeping secrets, both the juicy ones like her secret expeditions to the club where Daniel plays saxophone, and the unhappy ones like her discovery of her father’s gay affair. Carly’s uncertainty and at-times questionable decisions make her a believable teen protagonist, even in her precociousness, especially as she auditions new selves (in a wig!) and lunges after what it is she thinks she wants. Though structurally secondary to the story, scenes that take place in the terrible summer camp to which Carly is sent against her will particularly highlight teen social dynamics, and in contrast, show how different Carly’s energy is as she attempts to embody the role of an undergrad.
The depiction of an awkward first relationship that is neither disastrous nor idealized feels refreshingly authentic, forming only one branch of Carly’s exploratory story rather than pivoting the book into teen romance. Though many of the core themes carry through for teens of any generation, Harlan illuminates hallmarks of the Gen X era of latchkey parenting and feeling free to explore a city undisturbed by adults, with the storytelling spiced by smart 1980s specifics like yuppies, Reaganism, campaigns to save the whales and ban nukes, and Carly’s crush on Michael Landon.
Takeaway: Clever story of growing up unsupervised in 1980s New York.
Comparable Titles: Paula Danziger’s Remember Me to Harold Square, Susan Azim Boyer’s Jasmine Zumideh Needs A Win.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: B
