Multi-award-winning author and 2020-2022 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Jason Reynolds enters the world of YA romance with Twenty-Four Seconds from Now...: A LOVE Story, a hilariously sweet, candid, and guileless story about two Black teens preparing to have sex with each other for the first time.
Seventeen-year-old Neon and his girlfriend, Aria, have been dating for two years and have decided that they are both ready to have sex. At book's open, Neon is stuck in Aria's bathroom talking to himself in the mirror, nervous with anticipation. Twenty-four minutes before that, Neon, who works three nights a week at his father's bingo hall, arrives at Aria's house with her favorite chicken tenders. Twenty-four hours prior to that, he is thinking about the perfect gift to make for Aria to take with her to college. The conceit continues until 24 months ago, when Neon meets Aria for the first time. Then we're "back to now" and the exciting, special, nerve-wracking moment when Neon and Aria's relationship will change.
Twenty-four Seconds from Now... features Reynolds's distinct, direct, and informal style in Neon's intimate, first-person narration. Reynolds (Long Way Down; Track Series) tenderly covers the big topics he's taken on--love, sex, bodily autonomy, and consent--through mindful and attentive advice from Neon's older sister, parents, and grandparents. Neon receives nothing but sex-positivity from his loved ones, including his Dad's refrain: "don't bring no babies in here unless they know how to count money." Not only is this the perfect book for sex-curious youths, Reynolds's messages on how to approach sex, how to be gentle, and how to respect each other give readers profuse, healthy versions of Black love and community. --Natasha Harris, freelance reviewer