Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak

by Adi Alsaid

Overview

From Adi Alsaid, the acclaimed author of Let's Get Lost, North of Happy, and We Didn't Ask for This

A story about being in love with love.

Dumped by her boyfriend the summer after senior year, popular love-and-dating columnist Lu Charles can't seem to write another word. Devastated, she spends her time wondering if everything she used to believe about love was a lie. But when Lu overhears another college-bound couple breaking up--before deciding to stay together for one final summer--she is inspired. Could Cal and Iris be the key to solving her writers block?

Lu starts chronicling the couple's final weeks around New York City, ignoring her friends, her family, even her looming column deadlines as she becomes Cal and Iris's unofficial third wheel. With her NYU scholarship hanging in the balance, will Lu be able to discover the truth about love that she's been looking for? Or will she learn a much greater lesson?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781335145697
Publisher:	Inkyard Press
Publication date:	08/04/2020
Edition description:	First Time Trade
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.32(w) x 8.01(h) x 0.79(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Born and raised in Mexico City, Adi Alsaid is the author of several young adult novels including Let's Get Lost, We Didn't Ask For This, and North of Happy, a Kirkus Best Book nominee. He's also the editor of Come On In: 15 stories of immigration and finding home . He currently lives in Chicago with his wife and two cats, where he occasionally spills hot sauce on things (and cats).

Editorial Reviews

"Many teens will find something to take away from this story. Hand to fans of Jenny Han or other romantic comedies." -Booklist

"A refreshing novel about friendship and romance that defies cliché, Never Always Sometimes will win readers over with its hilarious musings and universal truths." -Adam Silvera, author of More Happy Than Not on Never Always Sometimes

"An utterly charming and thoughtful meditation on love, friendship and all the territories in between." -Nicola Yoon, author of Everything, Everything on Never Always Sometimes

"Reminiscent of John Green's Paper Towns, Alsaid's debut is a gem." -School Library Journal on Let's Get Lost

"Debut author Alsaid creates enough adventure to make the stories feel breathless." -Publishers Weekly on Let's Get Lost

"There is a kernel of truth in every cliché, and Alsaid cracks the teen-lit trope of friends becoming lovers wide open, exposing a beautiful truth inside. He also perfectly captures the golden glow of senioritis, a period when teens are bored and excited and wistful and nostalgic all at once. Everything is possible in this handful of weeks, including making up for squandered time." -Kirkus Reviews, starred review on Never Always Sometimes

"An exceptional tale of grief, ambition, love, and maturity." -Kirkus Reviews, starred review on North of Happy

From the Publisher

2018-12-25

Lu Charles, the love and dating columnist for the popular online teen magazine Misnomer, struggles to write her next piece.

And losing her writing gig would mean losing her scholarship to attend New York University in the fall. But since being dumped three weeks earlier, Lu has been suffering from a severe case of writer's block. So, like every clichéd aspiring writer, Lu turns to eavesdropping on people's conversations for inspiration. Her efforts lead her to the charming, hipster glasses-wearing Cal and his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend, Iris, who is practically perfect in Lu's eyes. Fascinated by the couple's joint decision to break up before heading off to college, Lu becomes the ultimate third-wheel-by-choice, planning to follow them around and document their final moments together for her column. But as she grows closer to Cal and Iris, she continually fails to meet her editor's deadlines, wastes time she could be spending with her best friend, Pete, before summer ends, and avoids confronting the pain she clearly still harbors from her recent breakup. There is a valuable and John Green-esque lesson on love in here, but readers are forced to wade through Lu's denial and self-centeredness until she understands it herself. Lu, though fed Italian food daily by her mother, is Filipina, as is her ex-boyfriend, Leo. Iris is Latinx, and other major characters are white.

The just-right ending despite the monotonous plot makes this one skimworthy at best. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews