Together at Midnight

by Jennifer Castle

Overview

Combining the emotional deftness of Sarah Dessen with the magical spark of New York City in wintertime, this affecting novel will inspire readers to pay closer attention to the world around them.

What does it really mean to be kind . . . and why does it sometimes feel like the hardest thing in the world to do?

High school senior Kendall, who just returned from a life-changing semester in Europe, and Max, who is drifting his way through a gap year before college, struggle with these questions when they witness a tragic accident in New York City during the holiday season.

Racked with guilt, the two accept a dare to perform random acts of kindness to strangers. The challenge pulls these two teens, who have a history together from back home, closer and closer as they explore a vibrant city filled with other people’s stories and secrets.

Kendall and Max can’t deny their growing bond, even though they both have other romantic entanglements and uncertain futures. As the clock counts down on New Year’s Eve, will they find themselves together at midnight?

Jennifer Castle’s latest novel is a romantic, thought-provoking tale of human connection and how we find—and make—our place in the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062250513
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/02/2018
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	377,368
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.40(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Jennifer Castle's first novel, The Beginning of After, was named an American Library Association Best Fiction for Young Adults selection and a Chicago Public Library "Best of the Best" Book. She wrote many unproduced movie and TV scripts before returning to her first love, fiction . . . but she's still hooked on film and the way we can find and tell our stories with images. She lives with her family in New York's Hudson Valley.

Editorial Reviews

10/23/2017
After New York City teenagers Kendall and Max witness a near-fatal bus accident (and worry they didn’t do enough to avert it), they agree to complete seven random acts of kindness between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. The only rule: the actions can’t be as simple as just throwing money at someone. Fueled by the guilt of “bystander syndrome,” Kendall and Max attempt to put some positive energy into the world. As they work together—stopping to talk with a homeless veteran, comforting a child whose father has disappeared, etc.—they realize that they have a great deal in common, and maybe the kiss they shared months before wasn’t such a mistake after all. Castle (What Happens Now) alternates between the teens’ first-person perspectives as New Year’s Eve approaches, interspersing brief dispatches from the recipients of their beneficence that highlight the secret struggles ordinary people carry with them every day. In giving voice to these men and women, Castle expands the story from a feel-good romance into a reflection on what makes us human. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jamie Weiss Chilton, Andrea Brown Literary. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Castle expands the story from a feel-good romance into a reflection on what makes us human.” — Publishers Weekly

“Castle’s easy prose alternates between [the characters’] perspectives and is interspersed with brief, poignant insights from the strangers they help along the way... Feel-good holiday fare.” — Kirkus Reviews

“A heartwarming, tender, and wistful look at the power of goodwill.” — Booklist

“Castle crafts relatable, endearingly flawed characters that readers will love. This book captures the magical essence of winter in New York City... It is a story that builds empathy and encourages teens to connect more with those in their own world but also with the world as a whole.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

“Recommended for collections where realistic fiction such as Eleanor & Park or Jennifer Castle’s other novels are popular.” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Castle crafts relatable, endearingly flawed characters that readers will love. This book captures the magical essence of winter in New York City... It is a story that builds empathy and encourages teens to connect more with those in their own world but also with the world as a whole.

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

A heartwarming, tender, and wistful look at the power of goodwill.

Booklist

A heartwarming, tender, and wistful look at the power of goodwill.

Booklist

01/01/2018
Gr 8 Up—Set between Christmas and New Year's in New York City, this novel centers on friends Kendall, Max, and Jamie who witness a quarrel that turns into an accident in which a woman is severely injured. Kendall and Max continue to stay in New York—Kendall with her brother and his boyfriend, who may be on the brink of a breakup, and Max with Big E, his curmudgeonly grandfather, who has scared away yet another caregiver. Feeling guilty over witnessing the quarrel and doing nothing, Kendall and Max accept a kindness challenge in which they will perform seven random acts of kindness by New Year's Day. Separately and together, the pair start looking at situations in terms of how they can positively intervene. The work is told in alternating chapters and readers are privy to not only the main characters' actions, thoughts, and emotions, but also to those of the people they are helping. This adds a powerful nuance to the novel. Participating in this challenge helps not only the people they meet but also the protagonists as they deal with personal challenges in their own lives. Although relationships and romance play a part, the scenes are appropriate for younger teens. VERDICT Recommended for collections where realistic fiction such as Eleanor & Park or Jennifer Castle's other novels are popular.—Erica Thorsen Payne, Albemarle High School,VA

School Library Journal

2017-10-28
Two teens take on a challenge to perform meaningful acts of kindness after witnessing an accident on the streets of New York City.Kendall and Max, white teens from the suburbs with a bit of history together, cross paths again in the city at a crossroads in their lives. Kendall has returned from a semester in Europe and is not sure she's ready to return to her old high school, especially since her experience at the alternative school abroad was more compatible with her ADHD and learning disability. Max is in the midst of an aimless gap year before college, a decision he made for the sake of an ex-girlfriend. After witnessing a tragic accident and feeling responsible for not intervening, the two agree to a challenge to perform seven acts of kindness in an effort to make amends and assuage their guilt. They spend the week leading up to New Year's Eve in each other's company, touching the lives of strangers and growing closer in the process. Castle's easy prose alternates between their perspectives and is interspersed with brief, poignant insights from the strangers they help along the way. Max's curmudgeonly Jewish grandfather and Kendall's gay brother provide some texture to their escapades, while their competing love interests from back home add mild drama to their budding relationship.Feel-good holiday fare. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews