Synopses & Reviews
"Jason Reynolds has done it again!...Fresh from start to
finish...This is what it could be, should be, if only we were all as
lucky as Aria. Girls (and everyone) wait for your Neon!" --
Judy Blume, New York Times bestselling author of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. and Forever...
#1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds tackles it--you know...it--from
the guy's perspective in this unfiltered and undeniably sweet stream of
consciousness story of a teen boy about to experience a huge first.
Twenty-four months ago: Neon gets chased by a dog all around the
parking lot of a church. Not his finest moment. And definitely one he
would have loved to forget if it weren't for the dog's owner: Aria.
Dressed in sweats, a t-shirt, hair in a ponytail. Aria. Way more than
fine.
Twenty-four weeks ago: Neon's dad insists on talking to him about
tenderness and intimacy. Neon and Aria are definitely in love, and
while they haven't taken that next big step...yet, they've starting
talking about...that.
Twenty-four days ago: Neon's mom finds her--
gulp--bra in his room. Hey! No judging! Those hook thingies are
complicated! So he'd figured he'd better practice, what with the big day
only a month away.
Twenty-four minutes ago: Neon leaves his shift at work at his
dad's bingo hall, making sure to bring some chicken tenders for Aria.
They're not candlelight and they definitely aren't caviar, but they are
her favorite.
And right this second? Neon is locked in Aria's bathroom,
completely freaking out because twenty-four seconds from now he and Aria
are about to...about to... Well, they won't do anything if he can't get
out of his own head (all the advice, insecurities, and what ifs) and
out of this bathroom!
About the Author
Jason Reynolds is a #1
New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a
Printz Award Honoree, a two-time National Book Award finalist, a Kirkus
Award winner, a UK Carnegie Medal winner, a two-time Walter Dean Myers
Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, an Odyssey Award Winner and
two-time honoree, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King
honors and the Margaret A. Edwards Award. He was also the 2020-2022
National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. His many books
include
All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely);
When I Was the Greatest;
The Boy in the Black Suit;
Stamped;
As Brave as You;
For Every One; the Track series (
Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and
Lu);
Look Both Ways;
Stuntboy, in the Meantime;
Ain't Burned All the Bright (recipient of the Caldecott Honor) and
My Name Is Jason. Mine Too. (both cowritten with Jason Griffin); and
Long Way Down, which received a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Honor. His debut picture book,
There Was a Party for Langston, won a Caldecott Honor and a
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. He lives in Washington, DC. You
can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.