Starred Review ALA Booklist

Starred Review It isn't that words fail Amy: she has plenty to tell, and her wry and witty mind is unaffected by her cerebral palsy. Her speech, though, is incomprehensible, so a talking computer speaks for her. To move in her body, she requires a walker and a helper to assist her between classes. But she is fiercely independent, and for her senior year, she has decided that students her own age will be her school aides. Maybe that will help with the one area she has struggled to master her whole life king real friends she prepares to transition to college. Matthew, stunted and isolated by his obsessive-compulsive disorder, signs on to assist Amy and inadvertently embarks on a self-improvement project that she passionately encourages. As they lean on each other and their relationship deepens, even as they each inch toward independence, Amy and Matthew test the boundaries of their self-determination and their friendship, much to the disappointment of Amy's worried mother. Exhilarating and heartrending, McGovern's YA debut has a similar odd-couple camaraderie as Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park (2013) and the raw exploration of disability in R. J. Palacio's Wonder (2012). With a smart, proud, and capable protagonist eager to take her life by the reins, this novel is stunning.

Horn Book

Amy, who has cerebral palsy, convinces her parents to hire a peer helper, Matthew (who has a severe anxiety disorder), so she can learn to socialize before college. The two develop a significant friendship--and a confusing mutual attraction. This book moves beyond the typical concerns people with disabilities encounter to present an honest portrayal of the lives of these particular characters.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Cerebral palsy means Amy walks with difficulty and talks via a speech-enabled computer; Matthew-s life is increasingly limited by OCD. Although they-ve attended school together their entire lives, they-ve barely talked to each other. They-re also very different: super-achieving Amy is choosing between elite colleges, while Matthew can-t fill out his college applications. Amy-s an optimist, and Matthew-s a fearful worrier. They develop a relationship when Amy convinces her fiercely protective mother to let her have peer assistants. In her YA debut, adult author McGovern (Neighborhood Watch) avoids gooeyness or condescension by making Amy and Matthew individuals, not diagnoses, and their relationship not just plausible, but suspenseful, as they try to figure out what they can be to each other. Watching Amy and Matthew grapple with big questions-Is love possible for them? What about sex? What do they want after high school? Can mistakes be forgiven and loss survived?-readers will be surprised, moved, amused, worried, hopeful, and grateful to have spent time with them. Ages 14-up. Agent: Margaret Riley King, William Morris Endeavor. (June)

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Amy has cerebral palsy, and has spent the past 17 years with walkers, voice boxes, and adults. She's gone through school at the same pace as her peers but without friends or socializing. When one of her classmates, Matthew, challenges her cheerful facade, Amy realizes she's missed out on developing true peer relationships. So for their senior year, Amy asks her parents to pay classmates to be her companions instead of her usual adult aids. She begs Matthew to apply, and the two embark on a friendship that addresses Amy's limitations, Matthew's own disorder, and all their secretsall except the one they really need to share. Both teens struggle with their realities and limitations, and a love soon develops between them. The harsh reality of high school social dynamics are authentically portrayed. The main characters are well developed, though secondary characters are little more than background noise. Recommend to fans of John Green's The Fault In Our Stars (Dutton, 2012) and realistic fiction with a love story angle. Natalie Struecker, Rock Island Public Library, IL

Voice of Youth Advocates

High school senior Amy always maintains a faþade of cheerfulness despite her isolation from her classmates. Amy has cerebral palsy, speaks using a computer, and only counts her aides and teachers as friends. She convinces her mother to hire peers to be her aides at school, hoping it will help her meet people. The helper she most connects with is Matthew, the only person brave enough to speak honestly to her (he thinks her constant positivity is an act). After spending some time together, Amy realizes that Matthew has undiagnosed obsessive compulsive disorder and begins forcing him to go outside his comfort zone. Though their relationship grows increasingly complicated, their bond is genuine, and Matthew finds himself having to support Amy in a way he never could have predicted after he learns about a big secret she has been keeping while at Stanford.Though the writing is solid, the plot is overfilled and often lacks believability. Amy and Matthew rarely come across as dynamic characters defined in ways beyond their medical diagnoses. The depiction of Amy sometimes defaults to a clichÚd "inspirational cripple" trope; however, her many (large) missteps spare her from feeling one-dimensional. The back of the book compares this novel to those of John Green and Rainbow Rowell, which will help this unlikely love story about two outsiders draw a wide audience, but readers may have a hard time sticking with the uneven story in this unfulfilling look at challenging oneself and coping with limitations.Amanda MacGregor.