Twenty-Four Seconds from Now... A Love Story
CCBC Review:
Seventeen-year-old Neon (Black) is standing in the bathroom at his girlfriend, Aria’s, house, excited and nervous about their plans for the evening: to have sex for the first time. From this opening scene, the story spins back in time—first 24 seconds from that moment, then 24 days, 24 weeks, 24 months—all the way back to when he and Aria (Black) first met. All of the good and bad and awkward and affirming conversations that Nee has had with people in his life (mom, dad, older sister, friends) about sex and relationships play out. So, too, do details of his and Aria’s relationship. There’s clear trust and love and respect between them, and the decision to have sex is one they’ve come to mutually, even as their future is uncertain (Nee feels college is not for him; Aria already has scholarship offers). Throughout the story, as senior year winds down, Nee is working on a project for his class’s digital yearbook, asking classmates to sum up high school in three words—their answers (like the conversations Nee has had about sex) are insightful, funny, and surprising. Then the story returns to where it started, in that bathroom, and Nee opens the door. “We pull each other. Me and Aria. Meet in the middle. Of ourselves. As ourselves.” ©2025 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 14 and older
Age Range:
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
African Americans
Families
Feelings/Emotions
Friendship
Love and Romance
Passage of Time
School
Sex and Sexuality
Diversity subject:
Black/African
Publishers:
Atheneum, Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, Simon & Schuster
Publish Year: 2024
Pages: 239
ISBN: 9781665961271
CCBC Location: Fiction, Reynolds