Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.Įveryone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago-except Pippa Fitz-Amobi. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. Fun and easy to relate to, but no great shakes. Every small change freshman Devi makes effects a dramatic change in senior Devi’s reality-a query about starting a girl’s golf team yields buff arms and acceptance to UCLA, for example-eventually leading the two Devis to embrace moderation in matters both academic and romantic.

Older Devi, bent on righting the wrongs of the last four years, pressures younger Devi into abandoning Bryan and focusing on friends, grades and extracurricular activities. An accidental dunk in the local mall’s fountain transforms her cell phone into a time-traveling communications device, letting senior-year Devi talk to her freshman-year self. Longtime love Bryan has broken up with her to attend college in Montreal, and because Devi’s been so wrapped up in her relationship with Bryan, her relationships with her former BFFs and older sister Maya have evaporated and she’s barely managed to be admitted to a very low-tier state university.

In the waning weeks of her senior year of high school, Devi is wishing for a four-year do-over.

Gimme a Call by Sarah Mlynowski