Gr 7 Up--The infinite outcomes of the multiverse theory are explored, sometimes heartbreakingly, in Lockhart's (We Were Liars) latest YA novel. Instead of wondering about what might have happened if different choices had been made, readers explore the many paths protagonist Adelaide Buchwald's summer could have taken. Adelaide is fresh off of an unexpected breakup and is spending her time as a dog walker for some of the teachers at the high school where her dad teaches; she's also attempting to complete a project for a theater design class or run the risk of failing and being expelled. Each version of her summer includes love, friendship, and how Adelaide and her family are dealing with the drug addiction of her younger brother Toby. This is not a simple romance of what could have been. The family dynamic and difficulties seem more important, affecting everything else in Adelaide's life. The various characters are voiced well by Tavia Gilbert, each person separate and distinct. Powerful emotions come through; the pain and anguish are palpable and displayed well through the voice acting. VERDICT For listeners in seach of a realistic tale with a dash of romance, an exploration of emotional trauma, and an unusual format. The attempt to distinguish the multiverses is made through sound cues, but aren't entirely successful for those listening without the book nearby.--Courtney Pentland, Omaha, NE

ldquo;This story takes place in a number of worlds. But mostly in two." Lockhart's moving, high-concept novel follows Adelaide Buchwald through numerous different variations of the summer after her junior year as she misses her ex-boyfriend, falls for someone new, and processes the trauma of her brother's drug addiction. Starting with Adelaide's meet-cute with Jack at the dog park, the story branches into multiple possible worlds. In some, their relationship ends there after a disastrous conversation. In others, they start seeing each other around campus and grow closer, with each new encounter spawning new variations. In all of these different worlds, Adelaide starts talking again to her brother Toby, now out of rehab, and struggles to forgive him despite her grief and anger. If this sounds confusing, it isn't; it's surprisingly easy to follow the main story, the variation to which Lockhart devotes the most time. (The wonderfully illuminating Part IV gets the second-most time.) Font changes and spatial cues delineate the other worlds as variations on a theme, with Adelaide's inner life as the fulcrum around which the story spins. The variations all work together to tell the story of a messy, normal life where connecting authentically with others is perilously hit-or-miss but worth the heartache for what you learn about yourself.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Lockhart nabbed a Printz Honor for The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (2008), hit best-seller lists with We Were Liars (2014), and never does the same thing twice. Readers will be all over her latest.

In this novel set in the same world as The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (rev. 5/08), Lockhart explores the intersection between love and the multiverse. The summer between her junior and senior years of Alabaster Preparatory Academy boarding school, "middle-class white Jewish 'faculty brat' with a public school background" Adelaide Buchwald "would fall in and out of love more than once, in different ways in different possible worlds." In most universes, she is devastated by a break-up with Mikey Double L, her first love. In some, she is distracted from her broken heart by Jack Cavallero, a mysterious poet with a tragic past. In one, she falls for Oscar, a pianist with a great sense of humor but terrible timing. In every universe, Adelaide is big sister to Toby, her beloved brother and a relapsed addict. If she can heal that relationship, the pieces of her complicated love life just might fall into place. Readers will be able to keep the universes straight through the use of font changes and clued-in chapter headings. An appealing cast of secondary characters-which include an acerbic art teacher, a romance-challenged roommate, and, best of all, a motley pack of sweet dogs that Adelaide walks-serves as amusing examples of the types of relationships Adelaide should embrace or avoid. An offbeat, philosophical love story for those who enjoy pondering the mysteries of the universe or the heart. Jennifer Hubert Swan May/June 2020 p.128(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Lockhart returns to Alabaster Preparatory Academy--the setting for The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks--to tell the story of a different character. Adrift and languorous in the summer between her junior and senior years, Adelaide Buchwald navigates the aftermath of an unexpected breakup, at least one potential new romance, and a wrenching situation with her brother. Her daily routine revolves around her job walking dogs belonging to vacationing faculty members and working to fend off academic probation by completing a set design project. Lockhart takes her penchant for plot twists to a new level, with a narrative that explores the idea of the multiverse, those infinite worlds loosed by paths taken and not taken. Key scenes are imagined and then reimagined, laying out an iterative feast of ideas about art, possibility, and the creative process for readers hungry for big concepts. Others will simply luxuriate in the storytelling: Adelaide's ups and downs, the sweetly individual personalities of the dogs she walks, and the dreamy atmosphere of the nearly deserted summertime campus. Ages 12--up. Agent: Elizabeth Kaplan, Elizabeth Kaplan Literary. (June)

A rising senior's summer follows diverging romantic trajectories in parallel timelines. Adelaide Buchwald is spending the summer dogsitting for her teachers at Alabaster Prep, an elite New England boarding school--and processing both her recent breakup and her brother Toby's opioid addiction. Soon she runs into Jack Cavallero, a boy who wrote a poem about her two years prior--"She contains / contradictions," he wrote--and whom she's idealized ever since. The narrative then breaks into several possibilities of how their relationship might progress. Adelaide also works to complete a set design for Sam Shepard's Fool for Love to save a failing grade from the previous year and tremulously starts to rebuild her bond with her brother despite her feelings of betrayal after the pain his addiction has caused the family. In addition to the fractured timelines, Adelaide's narrative voice occasionally fractures with added line breaks when her emotions are most heightened. Adelaide is white, Jewish, and on reduced tuition at the largely wealthy and WASP-y Alabaster; Jack is olive-skinned, and several secondary characters are racially diverse. What begins as a typical YA romance becomes a thoughtful exploration of the expectations Adelaide places on herself and others; in each timeline, she must confront her own fears and shortcomings. Toby's addiction is sensitively portrayed; the sibling relationship emerges as the true heart of this story in any timeline. A thoughtfully subversive exploration of the diverging pathways of the human heart. (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.