You Only Live Once, David Bravo

by Mark Oshiro, Avi Roque (Read by)

Overview

From Mark Oshiro, award-winning author of The Insiders, this time-bending adventure is perfect for fans of Sal and Gabi Break the Universe and When You Reach Me.

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * An ALA Rainbow Book List Top 10 Selection

Middle school is the worst, especially for David Bravo. He doesn’t have a single class with his best (okay, only) friend, Antoine. He has to give a class presentation about his heritage, but he’s not sure how—or even if—he wants to explain to his new classmates that he’s adopted. After he injures Antoine in an accident at cross-country practice, he just wishes he could do it all over.

He doesn’t expect his wish to summon a talking, shapeshifting, annoying dog, Fea, who claims that a choice in David’s past actually did put him on the wrong timeline… and she can take him back to fix it.

But when their first try (and the second, and the third) is a total disaster, David and Fea are left scrambling through timeline after timeline—on a quest that may lead them to answers in the most unexpected places.

Coco meets Sliding Doors in this laugh-out-loud, heartwarming middle grade novel that explores how our choices make us who we are. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798212036115
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/20/2022
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 5.70(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Mark Oshiro is the award-winning author of the YA books Anger Is a Gift and Each of Us a Desert. When they are not writing, they are busy trying to fulfill their lifelong goal of petting every dog in the world. The Insiders is their middle grade debut. 

Avi Roque was always searching for creative outlets as a child, whether they were drawing cartoons, coloring, painting, or, despite their shyness, performing for their family. Having received their bachelor's degree in theater arts from California State University, Fullerton, they are a proud member of the Actors' Equity Association. A Latinx/Trans/Non-Binary artist, they adore the arts and believe that there is always a story to tell.

Editorial Reviews

A joyful novel with a pick-your-path vibe. Both lighthearted and deeply moving.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“This funny, brave, charming novel is packed full of delights.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A beautiful story of friendship, love, family and finding yourself that made me laugh and cry from start to finish. This book will make you wish that you, too, had a witty xoloitzcuintli to take you on the greatest adventure of your life.” — Maulik Pancholy, Stonewall Honor-winning author of The Best At It

“So funny, the pages practically turn themselves. This time-bendy, big-hearted story asks all the important questions middle-schoolers have about identity, culture, orientation, and managing anxiety, and addresses them with equal parts kindness, heft, and hilarity.” — Carlos Hernandez, author of Sal & Gabi Break the Universe

“A funny and unexpected twist on the time loop novel with moving and memorable results.”  — School Library Journal (starred review)

Praise for The Insiders: “Sometimes hilarious, sometimes devastating, but always full of heart, The Insiders carves out a space for us all to be our true selves.” — Kwame Mbalia, New York Times bestselling author of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

“The story about finding your place and your people that I wish I’d had as a kid. Héctor has my whole heart and I want to hug him and keep him close, but he belongs out in the world where he can inspire readers to honor themselves." — New York Times bestselling author Adam Silvera

“A classic in the making.” — Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles

“Oshiro’s intersectional saga conveys a strong message about letting go of secrets and, with help from loved ones, reclaiming space.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From the Publisher

So funny, the pages practically turn themselves. This time-bendy, big-hearted story asks all the important questions middle-schoolers have about identity, culture, orientation, and managing anxiety, and addresses them with equal parts kindness, heft, and hilarity.

Carlos Hernandez

A classic in the making.

Dhonielle Clayton

"A beautiful story of friendship, love, family and finding yourself that made me laugh and cry from start to finish. This book will make you wish that you, too, had a witty xoloitzcuintli to take you on the greatest adventure of your life.

Maulik Pancholy

The story about finding your place and your people that I wish I’d had as a kid. Héctor has my whole heart and I want to hug him and keep him close, but he belongs out in the world where he can inspire readers to honor themselves."

New York Times bestselling author Adam Silvera

Praise for The Insiders: “Sometimes hilarious, sometimes devastating, but always full of heart, The Insiders carves out a space for us all to be our true selves.

Kwame Mbalia

★ 2022-06-22
David Bravo is having the worst day ever when a time-traveling dog shows up and offers him a chance to do it all over.

Tuesday, Sept. 12, truly takes the cake as the most awful day of 11-year-old David’s entire life. It starts with him anxiously fumbling through his first middle school presentation about his heritage: He has a Brazilian and Mexican American father and a Japanese American mother from Hawaii, and he has difficulty explaining that he is adopted. This is followed by an embarrassing food-poisoning incident that ends with David’s causing an accident that hurts his best friend Antoine’s ankle during cross-country practice. His wish to redo everything is granted by the arrival of Fea, a talking, shape-shifting dog who says her new mission is to help David repair his timestream. His first thought is to fix things for Antoine, worried their friendship may be on the line, but when that doesn’t help, David and Fea end up going back and forth in time trying to make things right. This funny, brave, charming novel is packed full of delights. The plot goes to utterly unexpected and beautiful places in a journey about heritage, culture, choice, and, above all, love and connection. David learns to navigate the many aspects of his identity—his anxiety, his budding romantic feelings for Antoine, and his background as a Latinx by birth—and brings the entire well-developed, diverse cast of characters together while doing so.

A joyful, surprising, time-traveling delight. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews