CCBC Booklists

CCBC Review:

Henry Denton is struggling with grief and guilt over his boyfriend Jesse’s suicide the previous year. Henry also has a history of being abducted and released by aliens, and recently those aliens have given him a choice: press a button and save all humanity or let life on earth perish. As the calendar counts down toward the day when he will have to make a decision, Henry is looking for reasons to save his fellow humans but coming up short. His grief is compounded by intensified bullying at school, where he is known as “Space Boy”; a secret sexual relationship with a closeted classmate whose actions can be cruel; and difficult relationships at home. Then new kid Diego Vega offers Henry friendship that gradually blossoms into romance, challenging Henry’s perspective on everything from his own self-worth to the ability of humans to rise above the grittiness and hateful things we sometimes inflict on one another. The big ideas Henry contemplates as well as his rough emotional state are balanced by his sharply funny voice, while the complexity of the primary and secondary characters and their relationships adds to the texture of this mature work. © 2017 Cooperative Children's Book Center

CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 14 and older
Age Range: Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format: Novel
Subjects: Decisions and Consequences Depression Extraterrestrials Gays Grief and Loss LGBTQ+ Persons Science Fiction Suicide
Diversity subject: LGBTQ Character/Topic
On CCBC Booklist: Speculative and Science Fiction for Children and Teens 

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publish Year: 2016
Pages: 451
ISBN: 9781481449632
CCBC Location: Fiction, Hutchinson

Add To My List