This is a fantastic young-adult novel. First of all, it is immensely readable. Young readers will hear and recognize the narrative voice without finding it false, a pitfall of so many young adult novels (actually voices, because the book is narrated by different characters–they’re all authentic). It’s a page-turner; you want to know what happens. And in the tradition of the best young-adult fiction, it offers wisdom through the story. Love is both wave and particle, a metaphor from physics, suggests that relationships are complicated and contradictory, important knowledge for those very definite, know-it-all young people on the verge of adulthood. They’ll find this out for themselves, to be sure, but the wisdom found in excellent literature has been a resource for many people of all ages, as readers know. Teens will love this book–if they can steal it from their parents long enough to read it themselves.
