APRIL 2017 - AudioFile
Gibson Frazier gives a sober narration of this story, told from the perspective of a teen. Ozzie is shaken by his long-term boyfriend’s disappearance—not just from his life but also from people’s memories and, it seems, the world. Frazier’s serious tone matches Ozzie’s grief and growing bewilderment as he comes to realize that the universe is shrinking, and no one notices but him. Frazier creates subtly different voices for secondary characters, including Calvin, a boy Ozzie partners with on a science project and soon begins to develop feelings for. Part love story, part science fiction, part magical realism, this story will appeal to fans of books like Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Last Survivors series. A.F. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 02/13/2017
The universe appears to be literally shrinking around Ozzie Pinkerton: erasing people, obliterating the stars, and reducing the world to little more than his town of Cloud Lake, Fla. Ozzie alone remembers the world as it was, and he’s also grappling with graduation, the vanished boyfriend whose very existence is now in question, his parents’ divorce, his brother’s enlistment in the military, and the secrets he’s keeping for his new friend Calvin. As in We Are the Ants, Hutchinson uses a science fiction overlay to explore important topics, including self-mutilation, gender identity, and child abuse. Ozzie’s friends remind him that the world doesn’t revolve around him, but Hutchinson playfully disagrees, turning the literal shrinking of the universe into a smart metaphor for Ozzie’s introversion and alienation. Ozzie’s wit and concern for his friends make him a captivating narrator frozen by the changes and choices he faces. The conceit also works as a powerful parable for victimization, as everything Ozzie knows is stolen and the people he should be able to trust constantly undermine him—or disappear altogether. Ages 14–up. Agent: Amy Boggs, Donald Maass Literary. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A 2018 ALA Rainbow List Title
“An earthy, existential coming-of-age gem.” –Kirkus, starred review
“Delightfully constructed... Readers will flock to its central truths.” –Shelf Awareness, starred review
“Hutchinson uses a science fiction overlay to explore important topics... Ozzie’s wit and concern for his friends make him a captivating narrator” –Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Wrenching and thoughtprovoking, Hutchinson has penned another winner.” –Booklist
“Smartly written, profound... Will stay with readers.” –School Library Journal
“Perfectly captures the essence of a coming-of-age tale.” –School Library Connection
November 15, 2016 - Booklist
The universe isn’t expanding anymore—it’s actually shrinking, and Florida high-school senior Ozzie is the only one who remembers it differently. He’s also the only one who remembers Tommy, his best friend since childhood and boyfriend since the eighth grade. Tommy has vanished, both from Ozzie’s life and from the memories of everyone around him. As graduation approaches and Ozzie’s world becomes literally smaller, he struggles to find Tommy with increasing desperation, even as he grows closer to Calvin, the quiet, elusive boy in his physics class. Occasionally nihilistic but never completely hopeless, the narrative supports multiple topics with grace: gender and sexual identities, mental illness, and the inevitable grief that comes with learning to move from one phase of life to another. A few familiar faces from Hutchinson’s We Are the Ants (2016) make cameo appearances, and fans will recognize similar motifs Hutchinson writes variations on a theme, to be sure, but it’s a rich theme. Wrenching and thoughtprovoking, Hutchinson has penned another winner. — Maggie Reagan
STARRED REVIEW Booklist
Hutchinson’s excellent novel of ideas invites readers to wonder about their place in a world that often seems uncaring and meaningless. The novel is never didactic; on the contrary, it is unfailingly dramatic and crackling with characters who become real upon the page. Will Henry press the button? We all await his decision.
2/7/17 - Shelf Awareness
Any breakup can make a person feel like the world has just ended, but high school senior Ozzie Pinkerton of Florida feels even worse: as far as the universe is concerned, his ex-boyfriend Tommy never existed.
His friends and family won't talk to him about Tommy because they have no memory of him. Ozzie is determined to find him, but there are complications. He starts crushing on the smart, mysterious Calvin and wonders whether he can cheat on someone who never existed. His parents' marriage is over, but they all still share a house, and his brother is about to leave for the military. It's no wonder he feels like the world is closing in on him, butoh, waitthat's happening, too. When Ozzie realizes the universe literally is shrinking every day, he starts to wonder if the universe is trying to tell him something, and if so, what the heck it could be.
While Shaun David Hutchinson (We Are the Ants) is a master of fusing the bizarre with the mundane, and the plot is delightfully constructed, it is Ozzie's pained, sardonic voice that steals the spotlight. Hutchinson's authentic characters, exploring their gender and sexuality with equal parts confusion and confidence, will resonate with many teens who no longer see their identity as binary or unchanging. Ozzie's story may be fantastical, but its emotional honesty renders the whole complicated story believable, and readers will flock to its central truths. Stephanie Anderson, assistant director for public services, Darien Library (Conn.)
Discover: Shaun David Hutchinson's smart YA novel finds authenticity in the weirdest of places.
School Library Journal
02/01/2017
Gr 9 Up—Oswald "Ozzie" Pinkerton is facing a gauntlet of problems: his parents are divorcing; his older brother is skipping college to join the military, and Ozzie is afraid he'll be killed; and Ozzie's boyfriend since eighth grade, Tommy, has vanished. To make matters worse, everyone in the town of Cloud Lake seems to have erased Tommy from their memories, even Ozzie and Tommy's best friends, gender-fluid punk rocker Lua and quiet valedictorian Dustin. Also, the universe is shrinking, and Ozzie appears to be the only person who realizes it. Ozzie has no idea how to function without Tommy, but when he's paired with solitary Calvin for a physics project and Calvin mentions Tommy's name, Ozzie begins to hope that Tommy is still out there. Hutchinson follows up We Are the Ants with a deep and introspective novel full of angst and suffering. Readers will feel Ozzie's nearly radiant pain, but Universe isn't singularly focused. All of the characters are neatly fleshed out and have their own personal anguish: Lua deals with being gender-fluid in a small town; Dustin, whose father loses the family fortune, has to confront a future where his dreams cannot be attained; and Ozzie's trials serve as a lens through which readers can examine the scope of human experience in this (shrinking) universe. VERDICT A closing revelation may frustrate some, but this smartly written, profound look at the wells of human despair will stay with readers. Recommended for all YA collections where Hutchinson's work circulates heavily.—Tyler Hixson, School Library Journal
APRIL 2017 - AudioFile
Gibson Frazier gives a sober narration of this story, told from the perspective of a teen. Ozzie is shaken by his long-term boyfriend’s disappearance—not just from his life but also from people’s memories and, it seems, the world. Frazier’s serious tone matches Ozzie’s grief and growing bewilderment as he comes to realize that the universe is shrinking, and no one notices but him. Frazier creates subtly different voices for secondary characters, including Calvin, a boy Ozzie partners with on a science project and soon begins to develop feelings for. Part love story, part science fiction, part magical realism, this story will appeal to fans of books like Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Last Survivors series. A.F. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2016-10-26
If your boyfriend is erased from history, is it because the universe is shrinking, or have you totally lost your mind?During senior year in high school, college applications and prom dates are the stresses du jour. But Oswald "Ozzie" Pinkerton's also include trying to convince anyone (family, friends, an alphabetical string of therapists) that his boyfriend, Tommy, ever existed. They theorize that Ozzie is obsessive and slightly touched; he theorizes that the universe is shrinking and that Tommy was a casualty of restricting astral girth. As Ozzie tracks the solar system's diminishing waist size, his still-existing world unravels and conversely weaves new chapters. One of these chapters is Calvin, a once-golden, now-reclusive student. When the two are paired for a physics project, Ozzie weighs his loyalty to absent Tommy against his growing attraction to present Calvin. A varied cast of characters populates the pages: there's a genderqueer girl who prefers masculine pronouns, a black boyfriend, an Asian/Jewish (by way of adoption) best friend, and a bevy of melting-pot surnames. Ozzie is a white male, and he is respectfully called out on underestimating the privilege he enjoys for being just that. Though Ozzie primarily narrates in the past tense (with sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll drifting through the background), intermittent flashbacks in the present tense unveil the tender, intimate history of Ozzie's relationship with Tommy. An earthy, existential coming-of-age gem. (Fantasy. 14 & up)