The Geography of You and Me

February 17, 2014
Owen and Lucy meet when they get stuck in a New York City elevator during a widespread power outage. They quickly connect, spending an intimate (but chaste) night looking at stars from the roof of their building. When the electricity returns, so do real-life complications: Owen and his father, devastated by his mother’s recent death, decide to drive west for a fresh start; meanwhile, Lucy moves to Scotland for her father’s work. At first, they stay in touch—Owen mails sweet postcards, and Lucy sends “slightly rambling” emails—but they begin to doubt the strength of their connection (“How long could a single night really be expected to last?” Lucy wonders). Smith (This Is What Happy Looks Like) has written a sweet, moody story that can also be deeply heartbreaking, as when Owen and his father return to pack up their old house, only to find “the real measures of the lives here were now well and truly gone.” There are plenty of romantic sigh-worthy moments, too, but it’s Owen and Lucy’s individual journeys that really hit home. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jennifer Joel, ICM.

March 15, 2014
As she did in The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight (2012), Smith fashions long-distance travel into a metaphor for the leaps of faith that love demands. Lucy and Owen live in the same Manhattan building but don't meet until they're stuck in a sweltering elevator during a blackout. Their brief ordeal's long enough for them to connect while their defenses are down. Grief over his mother's death has numbed Owen to his changed life--moving from rural Pennsylvania with his father, now the building's superintendent. With her affluent parents abroad and her brothers newly away at college, Lucy's long-standing loneliness has acquired a sharp edge. The blackout continues after they're rescued, and dealing with it together shatters the cocoon each lives in. They ramble the crowded streets before ascending to the roof, where they fall asleep under a starry sky. When Lucy wakes up, Owen's gone; his dad needs help managing the blackout's aftermath. By the time they reconnect, Lucy's moving abroad, while Owen and his newly unemployed dad are heading west. The alternating narration builds tension as the two both live their separate lives and recollect their fragile bond, giving readers access to the closely observed emotions of each, something neither has. If the emotional authenticity points up less-believable plot points (if only applying to college were so easy!), it also eclipses those lapses. Truth about love always gets our attention, and this book will catch readers'. (Fiction. 12-18)

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March 1, 2014

Gr 7 Up-Lucy and Owen meet in a stalled elevator in their New York City apartment building when a blackout affects the northeast. The two are rescued and spend the remaining night wandering the dark streets, admiring the star-filled sky, and picnicking on the roof. The next morning the power returns and with it the reality of their situation. The two are pulled in opposite directions as Lucy and her family move to London and Owen and his father trek westward across the United States. Although they are separated by thousands of miles, the teens can't forget each other. Though fate initially brought them together, it is up to them to engineer a way to meet again. This contemporary YA novel focuses on themes of family, life after loss, and long-distance relationships. Readers will enjoy experiencing different cities and countries through the protagonists' eyes. Fans of Sarah Dessen, Elizabeth Eulberg, and Susane Colasanti will enjoy Smith's latest meet-cute romance.-Tiffany Davis, Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, NY

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 15, 2014
Grades 8-11 *Starred Review* The meet-cute master behind The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight (2012) and This Is What Happy Looks Like (2013) delivers her best book yet, a straightforward, old-fashioned swoonfest that, in another time, would be a film starring Audrey Hepburn. One sweltering summer day, Lucy and Owen get stuck on an elevator in their New York City high-rise. Well, it's her high-rise, reallyOwen is the superintendent's son living in the basementbut class differences vanish with only a few feet of breathing room. They are freed, and the few hours of citywide blackout that follow become an enchanted fissure in time wherein the two establish a deep connection. The bulk of the book details their winding paths back to the heat and spark and flame they found in the dark, as Lucy is tugged around Europe by her successful parents while Owen and his newly jobless father hit the American highways in search of work. Yes, it's another take on An Affair to Remember, and no, there's nothing new here. But it's a classic dish served up with style, heart, and a long-distance yearning immediately recognizable to anyone who has had to love from afar. And Smith makes it all look as effortless as the charmed rapport between Lucy and Owen.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2014
Owen and Lucy meet during a citywide blackout in New York and spend a memorable (chaste) night together. Soon afterward, Lucy's parents take her to Europe, and Owen and his dad move to San Francisco, but even on opposite sides of the world, they think about each other. Smith's fans will recognize the alternating narration; reflective, deliberate writing style; and serendipitous coincidences.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2014
Owen and Lucy meet in the stalled elevator of their apartment building during a citywide blackout in New York. The two find connection in their loneliness: Owen is mourning the loss of his mother, and Lucy is constantly left behind by her jet-setting parents. They spend a memorable night wandering the hot city streets and (chastely) sleeping on their building's roof, but soon afterward, Lucy's parents take her to Europe, and Owen and his dad move west to San Francisco. For the next nine months, they communicate almost exclusively through postcards. And even while they're on opposite sides of the world, even while dating other people, they think of that night and each other. Fans of Smith's previous novels (This Is What Happy Looks Like, rev. 5/13) will recognize the alternating narration; the reflective, deliberate writing style; and the way serendipitous coincidences bring the characters together. But it's also because of little romantic acts of bravery -- such as Lucy sending a postcard to Owen after they've fought, or Owen impulsively e-mailing Lucy asking her to meet him in New York -- that the two finally reunite. Despite being set in cities around the world, the book's focus is actually very small, showing that when you're with the person you love, "the world shrank to just the right size. It molded itself to fit only the two of you, and nothing more." rachel l. smith

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)