(2) YA Hutchinson's latest offering (The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried, rev. 3/19; Before We Disappear, rev. 11/21) is another engaging blend of realism with fantasy and absurdity. Bleeding profusely from the wounds of a monster attack, Virgil Knox staggers into the small town of Merritt, Florida, where he and his father have recently moved after his parents' divorce. Gradually, we learn that Virgil has attended a party, rebuffed a sexual advance from the mayor's son, blacked out, and come to in the swamp, where he is attacked. Despite the physical evidence, nobody believes him about the supernatural encounter--not the police, his family, or his classmates. The gaslighting takes a toll on Virgil, who worries that the creature may come back--or that he will turn into a monster himself. Hutchinson is an accomplished storyteller, drawing readers in with Virgil's narrative voice, an appealing mix of angst and insouciance; the small-town Florida setting; memorable secondary characters, including Virgil's paternal grandmother and a theater classmate; and a plot that slowly unravels its mystery. The monster attack is a clear metaphor for sexual assault (see also Arnold's Red Hood, rev. 5/20) and, in its aftermath, for victim-blaming, proving once again that Hutchinson is not afraid to explore the darker corners of the adolescent experience.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022

(2) YA Noa wakes up to find himself, inexplicably, in a spacesuit floating outside a spaceship, with no recollection of how he got there. Neither does DJ, another boy aboard the ship, who helps bring Noa in, nor Jenny, whom they find locked inside a bathroom. The teens' immediate concerns are survival and trying to figure out what resources are available, how the ship works, and how they might get back home. Once they settle in for the long haul--as they learn from a recurring hologram of an annoying erstwhile child star, it could be six to nine months before they are rescued--they turn their attention toward one another, becoming friends even as a romance blossoms between Noa and DJ. An already bizarre and complicated plot adds a recurring time loop, an alien monster attack, and a visit to a mysterious high school in space before things start to make sense. In the meantime, the development of the quirky, unusual characters and their growing relationships should keep readers engaged. Hutchinson (The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza, rev. 3/18; The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried, rev. 3/19) writes with witty humor and a great ear for dialogue, and he addresses some big existential questions about love, loss, and identity.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(2) YA Teenage magicians' assistants Wilhelm and Jack find themselves at odds during the 1909 World's Fair in Seattle when their bosses, Teddy and the Enchantress, become bitter rivals. Earnest bookworm Wilhelm is the victim of terrible abuse at the hands of ambitious and conniving Teddy, who exploits Wilhelm's ability to travel short distances by magic, first involving him in a life of bank-robbing and then using him to gain fame. Orphaned Jack's relationship with the Enchantress takes a different form of mistreatment: she'd rescued him when he was younger and manipulates his emotions to make him feel obligated to her forever, preventing him from living a life of his own. When Jack and Wilhelm fall in love, they must decide what they are willing to risk for a future together. Palpable chemistry between the two main characters drives the plot, and a diverse cast of secondary characters adds humor and zest. Most impressive are the contrasting layers of villainy depicted in Teddy and the Enchantress: one an obvious brute, and the other more nuanced in her cruelty. Fans of historical fiction, fantasy, and slow-burn romance will find Jack and Wilhelm's story truly...magical.

Reviewer: Sarah Berman | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) YA As Dino started falling for his first boyfriend, Rafi (who is trans), he became ex–best friends with July. After July unexpectedly dies of a brain aneurysm, Dino gets a shock in his family's mortuary: July's corpse inexplicably comes back to life. Dino and July are complex characters; their easy banter is witty, philosophical, and engaging as Hutchinson's story blends speculative fiction, existential dread, morbid fascination with death, and surrealism.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(2) YA Sixteen-year-old Elena Mendoza discovers she can heal people, but her gift comes with a cost: each healing leads to random people being "raptured" into the heavens. As Elena muses on her weightier cosmic choices and more mundane high-school decisions, the narrative delves into thought-provoking philosophical territory. Another surreal, provocative, and witty book about the end of the world from Hutchinson.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2018

(3) YA Narrator Ozzie believes that his boyfriend Tommy has winked out of existence--and with him, much of the universe. Calvin, an open-minded but troubled classmate, is the only one Ozzie can talk to about the shrinking universe. A potentially unreliable narrator and nuanced considerations of sexuality, gender, and mental health further enrich this unusual, maybe-sci-fi take on love, loss, and second chances.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(4) YA Depressed by his boyfriend's suicide, Henry believes he's been abducted by aliens who tell him he can save the world from doom. But is the world worth saving? As lonely, bullied Henry grapples with this decision, a relationship develops with newcomer Diego, an artist with a dark past. Henry's angst-filled, existential narrative alternates with possible end-of-the-world scenarios. Character development outshines the lagging, issue-laden plot.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(4) YA Simon missed his chance to get with Cassie four years ago, and when she finally breaks up with her boyfriend and throws a rager, Simon decides to declare his love. Taking many a cue from teen party movies (drinking, fights, falling in pools, etc.), the entertaining plot consists of two alternate timelines that result in one fateful ending but are difficult to differentiate.

Reviewer: Allison Cole