Multi-award-winning author and 2020-2022 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Jason Reynolds enters the world of YA romance with the hilariously sweet, candid, and guileless Twenty-Four Seconds from Now...: A LOVE Story.
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. This Kids' Indie Next List title 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