Jumpstart the World

by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Overview

Elle is a loner. She doesn’t need people. Which is a good thing, because she’s on her own: she had to move into her own apartment so her mother’s boyfriend won’t have to deal with her.

Then she meets Frank, the guy who lives next door. He’s older and has a girlfriend, but Elle can’t stop thinking about him. Frank isn’t like anyone Elle has ever met. He listens to her. He’s gentle. And Elle is falling for him, hard.
But Frank is different in a way that Elle was never prepared for: he’s transgender. And when Elle learns the truth, her world is turned upside down.  Now she’ll have to search inside herself to find not only the true meaning of friendship but her own role in jumpstarting the world.

Tender, honest, and compassionate, Jumpstart the World is a stunning story to make you laugh, cry, and honor the power of love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780375896774
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	10/12/2010
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	801,475
Lexile:	HL490L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of Becoming Chloe,The Year of My Miraculous Reappearance, Diary of A Witness, The Day I Killed James, the national bestseller Pay It Forward, and Love in the Present Tense, amongst many other books.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 9 Up—When her mother chooses her boyfriend over her own daughter, Elle, 16, is moved into an apartment across Manhattan. She develops a friendship with Frank, who lives next door, and with Molly, Frank's girlfriend. As her feelings toward Frank turn into a crush, Elle becomes conflicted over how to deal with them. At the same time, she is befriended by "Us," a group of kids who are gay, lesbian, or just different in some way. When they meet Frank at a party and tell her they think he is a "trans man," Elle becomes angry and abruptly asks them to leave. Then she learns that Frank is a woman in the process of becoming a man, and she withdraws. However, when Frank is hit by a car and Elle nearly loses her best friend, she begins to understand the importance of acceptance of both others and herself. The value of friendship and the struggle to be comfortable in one's own skin are issues brought to light in this novel. As Elle learns to deal with who she is, she also learns to deal with those who aren't just like her. Willing to admit her mistakes and growing stronger throughout the book, Elle is a likable, well-developed character with whom teens will identify.—Gina Bowling, South Gibson County High School, Medina, TN

School Library Journal

Just before Elle's 16th birthday, her mother dumps her in her own New York City apartment (her stepfather " want a teenager around"). Alone, except for a one-eyed cat who mostly hides, she is grateful for neighbors Frank and Molly, whom she grows close to. Elle develops a crush on kind and wise Frank, but when she learns he is transgender, she wonders what this means about her own identity. Readers will be moved by Elle's thoughtful and honest narration, which genuinely reads like someone sorting through a complex situation--and her complicated emotions (when Frank offers help with her sick cat, she thinks, "It's not that I didn't appreciate his help. And it's not like I was judging him for his life choices. It's more like... If I could just have more time to swallow things"). While some plotting seems clichéd, such as Elle's decision to become a photographer so she can "remind the world to be what it knows it should be," even these familiar turns underscore the author's message about a universal need for love and acceptance. Ages 14–up. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly