You Don't Live Here

May 4, 2020
What would have happened to Rory Gilmore if Lorelei had suddenly died? When Sasha’s single mother dies in a California earthquake in this Gilmore Girls–tinged novel, she moves to Orange County to reside with her posh, conservative grandparents. Alienated, grieving, and used to getting along by pretending to be invisible, closeted Sasha starts her junior year by falling in with some popular kids, then discovers their shallowness. As she makes real friends, her feelings deepen for one: Lily. Sasha wants to join the art club that Lily’s in; her grandparents want her to do mock trial and date their friend’s grandson, Cole. Eventually Sasha realizes that she has to come out to herself and the people around her, not just as queer, but as an artist and a person who wants more than to just get along. Schneider (Invisible Ghosts) relies on well-known plot arcs, and her protagonist’s constant reflection can slacken the pace, but quietly funny Sasha is likable, and it’s satisfying to see her come into her own, romantically and otherwise. Ages 13–up. Agent: Barbara Poelle, Irene Goodman Literary.

April 1, 2020
Sixteen-year-old Sasha's world is upended when her single mother is killed in an earthquake. After surviving a 6.0 San Bernardino earthquake, Sasha must go live with her maternal grandparents in Orange County, California. She hibernates for three months before emerging to begin 11th grade. Severely bullied in middle school, her coping strategy thus far has been to hide behind her camera as a yearbook photographer. Unfortunately, Sasha's ambitious and controlling grandmother refuses to let her join the yearbook team or art club at her new school and instead insists she participate in mock trial, which she loathes. Wanting to please her grandparents, Sasha caves. She makes some new and cool popular friends via her grandparents' country club, but events at a party soon clarify their untrustworthiness. The interesting twist to the perennial teen themes of fitting in, self-discovery, and truth-telling is that Sasha is bisexual. Her love interest is art club president Lily, despite her grandparents' desire that she date golden boy Cole. The traumas of grief and earthquake survival take a backseat to the more pedestrian anxieties of what club to join and which friends and romantic interests to claim. The first-person narrative is plodding; Sasha agonizes for many chapters about the same issues. For teen readers who are slowly uncovering their own truths, the pace might feel appropriate. Most main characters are white; Lily is Chinese American. While not without faults, a tale of survival and rebuilding. (Fiction. 13-18)

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April 15, 2020
Grades 9-12 When Sasha's mom dies in an earthquake, she finds herself shoved from her own life into her mother's past: moving in with her Trump-supporting grandparents, living in her mother's old room, going to her mother's old school, and shouldering her grandparents' expectations that her mother had failed to live up to. While working through her grief and taking on honors classes, after-school activities, and social events insisted upon by her grandparents, Sasha struggles to suppress her attraction to confident and artistic Lily. Sasha's journey through grief and self-discovery amid the realities of living during the Trump presidency makes Schneider's (The Beginning of Everything, 2013) latest a relatable and timely read. While at times it feels as though Schneider uses Sasha's inner monologue to preach directly to readers, the lessons Sasha learns are relevant to teen experience. The family drama will pull at your heartstrings, the romance will warm your chest, and the fight between expectations and happiness will remind you what makes us all human.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)