Autofocus

by Lauren Gibaldi

Overview

From the author of The Night We Said Yes comes a fun and heartfelt YA contemporary tale. When Maude decides to search for information about her birth mother, she finds out more than she expected. Perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Susane Colasanti.

Family. It’s always been a loaded word for Maude, whose birth mother died after giving her up for adoption. With her best friend, Treena, in college in the same town where her birth mother grew up, Maude decides to visit and explore her past. But when Maude arrives, she quickly discovers that Treena doesn’t seem to have time for her—or for helping with her search. Enter Bennett, a cute guy who lives in Treena’s dorm. He understands Maude’s need to find her mother. And as Bennett helps Maude, she starts to realize that her mother’s past doesn’t have to define her own future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062302236
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/14/2016
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Lauren Gibaldi is a librarian in Orlando, Florida, where she lives with her husband and daughter. The Night We Said Yes and Autofocus were her two first books for young adults, and This Tiny Perfect World is her third. Find her online at www.laurengibaldi.com or on Twitter @laurengibaldi.

Editorial Reviews

Gibaldi gives voice to the fears and expectations of many teenagers. Perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Sarah Dessen who are looking for a new author to love.” — School Library Journal

“Has depth and pathos.” — Kirkus Reviews

“The friendship and tension between Maude and Treena is well drawn and realistic, and Maude’s blossoming relationship with Bennett is sweet. The setting is vividly represented. Give this to fans of Sarah Dessen.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

From the Publisher

The friendship and tension between Maude and Treena is well drawn and realistic, and Maude’s blossoming relationship with Bennett is sweet. The setting is vividly represented. Give this to fans of Sarah Dessen.

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

06/01/2016
Gr 8 Up—A look at the transition to adulthood through the eyes of a young woman searching for answers about her biological family. Tasked with taking photos that represent the concept of family for her photography course, high school senior Maude travels to Tallahassee to see where her birth mother grew up. She stays with best friend Treena, who went off to college a year earlier. Though they once shared everything, Maude and Treena are surprised to discover how much each of them has changed. Treena's new desire to party and hang out with boys leaves Maude on her own as she searches for her birth mother. Along the way, the protagonist meets Bennett, a boy who lives in Treena's dorm and is eager to help. Maude is relentless in her quest for answers, but the author doesn't fully explain why. Treena's East Asian heritage is emphasized but feels like an afterthought. Bennett is the perfect love interest but isn't developed enough to keep readers invested in the romance. Still, detailing the progression from high school to college, Gibaldi gives voice to the fears and expectations of many teenagers. VERDICT Perfect for fans of Stephanie Perkins and Sarah Dessen who are looking for a new author to love.—Alexandra Patterson, Mercersburg Academy Library, PA

School Library Journal

2016-03-30
A photography-class assignment on the meaning of family prompts Maude, an adopted high school senior in Florida, to learn about her deceased birth mother, Claire.Maude's Indian-American BFF, Treena, attends Florida State University, which Claire attended and where Maude might apply. Parental permission secured, the white teen visits Treena, who promises to help; but partying, drinking, and hanging with her new boyfriend means she's not there for Maude. Luckily, Treena's dorm mate, an appealing Star Wars nerd, steps in and joins Maude's quest, which leads to Claire's high school, teachers, friends, foes, and family. Each discovery forces Maude to re-examine her image of Claire, as she also does with Treena. Maude's high-concept struggle to condense a process into one snapshot has depth and pathos, but it is undermined by the incomplete portrait of adoption. A bright, artistic, edgy teen from a troubled background, Claire elicits Maude's compassion, along with repulsion and relief at having been adopted by better parents. Maude expresses no sense of deep personal loss. After all, her affluent, "fit" parents have given her a better life than her impoverished birth family could. Claire's (atypical) death in childbirth at 18 safely removed her from the story; Maude's goal is to understand her mother as a teen in order to complete her own story. Claire's peers play a greater role in Maude's search than her birth family.Adoption entails lifelong losses along with joys, but its hard questions and nuanced complexities are airbrushed from this affluence-cushioned world. (Fiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews