What if you live for the moment when life goes off the rails—and then one day there’s no one left to help you get it back on track?
Althea Carter and Oliver McKinley have been best friends since they were six; she’s the fist-fighting instigator to his peacemaker, the artist whose vision balances his scientific bent. Now, as their junior year of high school comes to a close, Althea has begun to want something more than just best-friendship. Oliver, for his part, simply wants life to go back to normal, but when he wakes up one morning with no memory of the past three weeks, he can’t deny any longer that something is seriously wrong with him. And then Althea makes the worst bad decision ever, and her relationship with Oliver is shattered. He leaves town for a clinical study in New York, resolving to repair whatever is broken in his brain, while she gets into her battered Camry and drives up the coast after him, determined to make up for what she’s done.
Their journey will take them from the rooftops, keg parties, and all-ages shows of their North Carolina hometown to the pool halls, punk houses, and hospitals of New York City before they once more stand together and face their chances. Set in the DIY, mix tape, and zine culture of the mid-1990s, Cristina Moracho’s whip-smart debut is an achingly real story about identity, illness, and love—and why bad decisions sometimes feel so good.
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Althea & Oliver
What if you live for the moment when life goes off the rails—and then one day there’s no one left to help you get it back on track?
Althea Carter and Oliver McKinley have been best friends since they were six; she’s the fist-fighting instigator to his peacemaker, the artist whose vision balances his scientific bent. Now, as their junior year of high school comes to a close, Althea has begun to want something more than just best-friendship. Oliver, for his part, simply wants life to go back to normal, but when he wakes up one morning with no memory of the past three weeks, he can’t deny any longer that something is seriously wrong with him. And then Althea makes the worst bad decision ever, and her relationship with Oliver is shattered. He leaves town for a clinical study in New York, resolving to repair whatever is broken in his brain, while she gets into her battered Camry and drives up the coast after him, determined to make up for what she’s done.
Their journey will take them from the rooftops, keg parties, and all-ages shows of their North Carolina hometown to the pool halls, punk houses, and hospitals of New York City before they once more stand together and face their chances. Set in the DIY, mix tape, and zine culture of the mid-1990s, Cristina Moracho’s whip-smart debut is an achingly real story about identity, illness, and love—and why bad decisions sometimes feel so good.
What if you live for the moment when life goes off the rails—and then one day there’s no one left to help you get it back on track?
Althea Carter and Oliver McKinley have been best friends since they were six; she’s the fist-fighting instigator to his peacemaker, the artist whose vision balances his scientific bent. Now, as their junior year of high school comes to a close, Althea has begun to want something more than just best-friendship. Oliver, for his part, simply wants life to go back to normal, but when he wakes up one morning with no memory of the past three weeks, he can’t deny any longer that something is seriously wrong with him. And then Althea makes the worst bad decision ever, and her relationship with Oliver is shattered. He leaves town for a clinical study in New York, resolving to repair whatever is broken in his brain, while she gets into her battered Camry and drives up the coast after him, determined to make up for what she’s done.
Their journey will take them from the rooftops, keg parties, and all-ages shows of their North Carolina hometown to the pool halls, punk houses, and hospitals of New York City before they once more stand together and face their chances. Set in the DIY, mix tape, and zine culture of the mid-1990s, Cristina Moracho’s whip-smart debut is an achingly real story about identity, illness, and love—and why bad decisions sometimes feel so good.
This is Cristina Moracho's first novel. She lives in Brooklyn, New York and tweets at @cherielecrivain.
Read an Excerpt
“It wasn’t exactly how I pictured it, either,” Althea shouts back. Her legs are shaking. “How do you think I feel? Do you think that’s what I wanted?” “Then why did you do it?” Althea stares at him, knowing if he even has to ask, it’s already over, she’s already lost. “I don’t think I could have stopped it. And if you could remember, you would know what I mean, and you would know that I’m right.” Releasing her, he takes a step back, shaking his head. There’s gravel in his voice, a roughness she’s never heard before. “I’ll tell you what I know. This, you and me, this is all just geography. If it had been some other little girl who grew up down the block from me, I would have been her best friend for ten years, too, until I realized one day that I wasn’t sure I even liked her very much. You’re like an incumbent president that no one can stand but you get reelected anyway, you have the advantage because you’re already in and when someone’s in it’s so much harder to get them out.”
"The bittersweet romance, Oliver’s battle with his illness, and Althea’s coming-of-age struggle should appeal to fans of John Green and Sarah Dessen who are looking for something new." —VOYA
"Fans of Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park will enjoy debut author Cristina Moracho’s trip back to the 1990s in Althea and Oliver." —CNN.com
"A gut-wrenching tale." —People
"Moracho’s coming-of-age story carries rare insight and a keen understanding of those verging on adulthood." —Booklist, starred review
"It is the exquisitely created and painfully real, pitch-perfect characters who make it so memorable." —SLJ, starred review
"At turns gritty and gooey, Oliver and Althea’s evolving relationship unfolds in a warts-and-all narration that alternates between the two, deftly capturing the purgatorial crossroads between youth and adulthood . . . Mesmerizing." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Can boys and girls really be just friends? This endearing novel explores that, and a whole lot of other things including but not limited to: falling in love, punk rock, circa-’90s NYC, and a very complicated sleep disorder that causes those afflicted to fall asleep for days, weeks, even months at a time." —TeenVogue.com
"A gorgeous, glorious, unforgettable novel about punk rock, bad decisions, falling in love, and the messy beauty of growing up. Althea and Oliver is a flawlessly-crafted straight shot to the heart." —Sarah McCarry, author of All Our Pretty Songs
"I can't wait to tell people about this one. It's mind-blowingly good." —Molly Templeton, WORD Books
"Even if the book weren’t eloquent and hilarious, it’d be a must-read for all children of the ’90s. But thankfully, it is, and if you’re smart, you’ll run out and grab a copy." —Bustle
"Go buy this book! Read it now!" —Hello Giggles
A TIME Magazine Top 10 YA of 2014 An SLJ Best Books of the Year A Booklist Editor's Choice 2014 A Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2014 One of TeenVogue.com’s Best YA Books You Should Read This Fall One of CNN.com’s 40 New Titles to Feed Your YA Book Addiction
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