Overview

From the author of We Are the Ants comes ""another winner"" (Booklist, starred review) about a boy who believes the universe is slowly shrinking as things he remembers are being erased from others' memories. Tommy and Ozzie have been best friends since the second grade, and boyfriends since eighth. They spent countless days dreaming of escaping their small town--and then Tommy vanished. More accurately, he ceased to exist, erased from the minds and memories of everyone who knew him. Everyone except Ozzie. Ozzie doesn't know how to navigate life without Tommy, and soon he suspects that something else is going on: that the universe is shrinking. When Ozzie is paired up with the reclusive and secretive Calvin for a physics project, it's hard for him to deny the feelings developing between them, even if he still loves Tommy. But Ozzie knows there isn't much time left to find Tommy--that once the door closes, it can't be opened again. And he's determined to keep it open as long as possible.

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9781481449663

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Reviews

The universe isn't expanding anymore--it's actually shrinking, and Florida high-school senior Ozzie is the only one who remembers it differently. He's also the only one who remembers Tommy, his best friend since childhood and boyfriend since the eighth grade. Tommy has vanished, both from Ozzie's life and from the memories of everyone around him. As graduation approaches and Ozzie's world becomes literally smaller, he struggles to find Tommy with increasing desperation, even as he grows closer to Calvin, the quiet, elusive boy in his physics class. Occasionally nihilistic but never completely hopeless, the narrative supports multiple topics with grace: gender and sexual identities, mental illness, and the inevitable grief that comes with learning to move from one phase of life to another. A few familiar faces from Hutchinson's We Are the Ants (2016) make cameo appearances, and fans will recognize similar motifs Hutchinson writes variations on a theme, to be sure, but it's a rich theme. Wrenching and thoughtprovoking, Hutchinson has penned another winner. -- Maggie Reagan--Booklist November 15, 2016

A Junior Library Guild Selection A 2018 ALA Rainbow List Title An earthy, existential coming-of-age gem. -Kirkus, starred review Delightfully constructed... Readers will flock to its central truths. -Shelf Awareness, starred review Hutchinson uses a science fiction overlay to explore important topics... Ozzie's wit and concern for his friends make him a captivating narrator -Publishers Weekly, starred review Wrenching and thoughtprovoking, Hutchinson has penned another winner. -Booklist Smartly written, profound... Will stay with readers. -School Library Journal Perfectly captures the essence of a coming-of-age tale. -School Library Connection

The universe isn t expanding anymore it s actually shrinking, and Florida high-school senior Ozzie is the only one who remembers it differently. He s also the only one who remembers Tommy, his best friend since childhood and boyfriend since the eighth grade. Tommy has vanished, both from Ozzie s life and from the memories of everyone around him. As graduation approaches and Ozzie s world becomes literally smaller, he struggles to find Tommy with increasing desperation, even as he grows closer to Calvin, the quiet, elusive boy in his physics class. Occasionally nihilistic but never completely hopeless, the narrative supports multiple topics with grace: gender and sexual identities, mental illness, and the inevitable grief that comes with learning to move from one phase of life to another. A few familiar faces from Hutchinson s We Are the Ants (2016) make cameo appearances, and fans will recognize similar motifs Hutchinson writes variations on a theme, to be sure, but it s a rich theme. Wrenching and thoughtprovoking, Hutchinson has penned another winner. Maggie Reagan--Booklist November 15, 2016 If your boyfriend is erased from history, is it because the universe is shrinking, or have you totally lost your mind?During senior year in high school, college applications and prom dates are the stresses du jour. But Oswald Ozzie Pinkerton's also include trying to convince anyone (family, friends, an alphabetical string of therapists) that his boyfriend, Tommy, ever existed. They theorize that Ozzie is obsessive and slightly touched; he theorizes that the universe is shrinking and that Tommy was a casualty of restricting astral girth. As Ozzie tracks the solar system's diminishing waist size, his still-existing world unravels and conversely weaves new chapters. One of these chapters is Calvin, a once-golden, now-reclusive student. When the two are paired for a physics project, Ozzie weighs his loyalty to absent Tommy against his growing attraction to present Calvin. A varied cast of characters populates the pages: there's a genderqueer girl who prefers masculine pronouns, a black boyfriend, an Asian/Jewish (by way of adoption) best friend, and a bevy of melting-pot surnames. Ozzie is a white male, and he is respectfully called out on underestimating the privilege he enjoys for being just that. Though Ozzie primarily narrates in the past tense (with sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll drifting through the background), intermittent flashbacks in the present tense unveil the tender, intimate history of Ozzie's relationship with Tommy. An earthy, existential coming-of-age gem. (Fantasy. 14 & up)--Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW 11/15/16 The universe isn't expanding anymore--it's actually shrinking, and Florida high-school senior Ozzie is the only one who remembers it differently. He's also the only one who remembers Tommy, his best friend since childhood and boyfriend since the eighth grade. Tommy has vanished, both from Ozzie's life and from the memories of everyone around him. As graduation approaches and Ozzie's world becomes literally smaller, he struggles to find Tommy with increasing desperation, even as he grows closer to Calvin, the quiet, elusive boy in his physics class. Occasionally nihilistic but never completely hopeless, the narrative supports multiple topics with grace: gender and sexual identities, mental illness, and the inevitable grief that comes with learning to move from one phase of life to another. A few familiar faces from Hutchinson's We Are the Ants (2016) make cameo appearances, and fans will recognize similar motifs Hutchinson writes variations on a theme, to be sure, but it's a rich theme. Wrenching and thoughtprovoking, Hutchinson has penned another winner. -- Maggie Reagan--Booklist November 15, 2016

Author Information

Shaun David Hutchinson is the author of numerous books for young adults, including The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried, The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza, At the Edge of the Universe, and We Are the Ants. He also edited the anthologies Violent Ends and Feral Youth and wrote the memoir Brave Face, which chronicles his struggles with depression and coming out during his teenage years. He lives in Seattle, where he enjoys drinking coffee, yelling at the TV, and eating cake. Visit him at ShaunDavidHutchinson.com or on Twitter @ShaunieDarko.

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