2016-01-09
Vivi and Jonah's hot summer romance is marred by her rebellion against her diagnosis of bipolar disorder and his grief over his father's recent death. Artistic and outgoing, Vivi enjoys adopting various personas through vintage clothing and retro makeup, and she becomes immediately popular in the town where she and her mom are vacationing. When she meets handsome and serious Jonah, Vivi seems as interested in the possibility of acquiring him as a hot fling as she is in cheering him up. Jonah's shocked to find himself in the cross hairs of exotic Vivi, and he initially tries to protect their romance by hiding his stress over his mother's lingering depression. Vivi's beauty and exuberant attentions dazzle Jonah, and they largely explain his patience with her increasing capriciousness and the growing emotional distance that contradicts her demands for physical intimacy. But eventually Vivi's dismissals of Jonah's growing distress about his family strains their relationship. Readers understand that Vivi has secretly stopped taking her medication, but it's still difficult to watch her illness overshadow her interest in Jonah. Ultimately this is Vivi's journey, despite her sharing narration in alternating chapters with Jonah. Aside from a Japanese police officer and the Latino chef at Jonah's family's restaurant, the book's cast is largely white. An author's note supplies some resources on mental illness. Vivi's too precocious and world-weary from the start to make her relationship with practical Jonah ever feel like it has possibility beyond the end of the summer, regardless of her diagnosis. (Fiction. 14-18)
"Nothing short of heartbreaking. These are definitely two teens worth rooting for in a tale that’s several clicks above the usual frothy summer romance fare." —BCCB
"Lord sucks readers into the fully realized world of two teenagers and their messy, honest families. As much about the fragility of the human experience as it is about mental illness, this offers a refreshing perspective on a spectrum of mental health disorders. This love story veers away from tragedy, instead firmly entrenching itself in hope and possibility." —Booklist
"Filled with raw, descriptive truths . . . a powerful book for reader engagement . . . An absolute tearjerker romance with a powerful message about weightier topics of grief and mental illness." —starred review, School Library Journal
"This is more than a love story. When We Collided carefully yet effortlessly puts mental illness in conversation with the beauty and struggle of adolescence. It is a book I wish could have written, but am so much better for having read." —Julie Murphy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of DUMPLIN' and SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY
"Searingly honest, gut-wrenchingly authentic, and deeply romantic, When We Collided is a gift of a novel. It tackles tough topics with nuance, and will make readers both laugh and cry, sometimes within the span of a page." —Jasmine Warga, author of MY HEART AND OTHER BLACK HOLES
"Vivi and Jonah's story will hit you deep in a book that shows what it means not only to be a person inflicted with mental illness, but to be the people that love them. In a word, fantastic!" —Andi of Andi’s ABCs
"Fans of Jandy Nelson and Rainbow Rowell will fall in love with this poetic story of two damaged kids." —Daria Plumb, 2015 President of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) and secondary English Language Arts teacher
"There is an honest portrayal of how life can be jagged, with rough corners and uneven edges. But if you take a closer look, there's a beauty to these misshapen moments, outlined with hope." —Blogger Ginger Phillips at GReadsBooks!
"I can't shake Vivi, her mistakes and her growth, the way she changes, the way she loves, and I don't want to. She's a YA heroine who will matter so much to teens." —Angie Manfredi, Los Alamos County Library
"Emery weaves an emotional tale of two people who are essentially flawed, but so very human, navigating a relationship. She truly has a feel for the seventeen-year-old within all of us girls." —Cori Smith, Joseph-Beth Booksellers
"It's romance and excitement and nervousness and heartbreak and sadness. . . . The teens at my library will eat this up!" —Maggie Melson, Children's/Teen Librarian, St. Charles City-County Library District
"What happens when an irrepressible spirit meets a burdened teen? Magic, that’s what. Emery Lord knows how to craft a romance." —Michael Fleming, Librarian, Pacific Cascade Middle School
"A fabulously entertaining story of friendship, healing, and love. Filled with laughter, heart, and a side of sass, this rock star debut will have you cheering for an encore!" —Elizabeth Eulberg, author of BETTER OFF FRIENDS, on OPEN ROAD SUMMER
