You and Me and Misery

Gr 9 Up–This debut novel in verse explores loneliness and the way that two teenagers come together. Gin narrates her experience of first love and heartbreak while Johnny describes disordered eating and an abusive father. The two sit next to each other in fifth period, but they don’t know anything more about one another than school gossip and what they observe. Gin, who is close to coming out as a lesbian, describes Johnny as “creepily quiet, but smart” while Johnny notes that Gin hasn’t always smelled like cigarette smoke, as she does now. Both teens assume that no one else really notices or cares about them at school. When a teacher puts them together on an assignment and encourages them to make a connection, they finally start to see each other. The short poems—most of them running from two to 11 lines each—are full of sensory details that capture the characters’ emotions well. Ultimately their friendship is rewarding, but, realistically, it doesn’t solve all their problems.