Starred review from May 16, 2022
Using an omniscient third-person narrator, Alsaid’s (Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak) speculative airport adventure reimagines an ordinary layover in Atlanta. Sparks fly when Latinx-cued James, 16, meets French and Thai Michelle, 18, while passing the time by inspecting a mysterious blinking green button on the terminal wall. Unknown to James, Michelle curiously presses the button and, soon after, a power surge causes flight delays, putting travelers on edge. Waiting for their flights, the teens wander the airport in a pseudo–first date filled with philosophical conversation about imminent adulthood, past regrets, and future plans. Their initially lighthearted reaction to the disturbance (“I hope it lasts all night. Like one big slumber party”) turns panicked when a second surge leaves the airport without power. Chaos ensues as people loot stores and form disgruntled mobs, and myriad surreal calamities, such as indoor blizzards and frightening earthquakes, begin surfacing across the terminals. The urgent external situations parallel the pair’s internal fears and uncertainties while maneuvering disaster and searching for their families. Alsaid’s ominous, high-stakes narrative steadily creeps toward a gripping resolution, balancing suspense, fantasy, drama, and cinematic romance for a multilayered read. Ages 12–up. Agent: Peter Knapp, Park & Fine Literary.
Starred review from July 1, 2022
Gr 7 Up-This exquisite piece of speculative fiction powerfully highlights the challenges facing young adults by creating a microcosm of the world's problems inside the Atlanta airport. Disasters including the development of extreme indoor "airport microclimates" and the unexplained disappearance of over 300 people lead to a variety of reactions, altogether providing a nuanced portrait of human nature. Strangers James, cued as Latinx, and Michelle, biracial French and Thai, witness and experience the prejudice driving many acts of fear and rage. They move through the chaos while sharing vulnerable conversations, particularly the fears of facing a world that often seems more bad than good. The juxtaposition of their discussions within the rampant senselessness allows numerous themes to flourish, from the power of storytelling to the capacity of humans to find joy. The defining feature of this novel is the narrative voice, which has a snarky omniscience that deftly balances empathy and humor, gifted with an engaging self-awareness. The narrator's insistence that the events are random and largely unexplainable nimbly manages reader expectations for the book's resolution. Glimpses into the lives and minds of basically every person who enters the story provides truly excellent characterization, humanizing individuals who would otherwise be part of a nameless mass. This technique is a perfect example of James's final suggestion to Michelle: the world is scary when you only see the big picture, but if you zoom in to look at individuals, it seems like a better place. VERDICT An honest, evocative, and multilayered examination of humanity, full of both fear and hope. Recommended for first purchase.-Elizabeth Lovsin
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July 1, 2022
An engaging look at the airportlike maze of the human mind. At the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, two teenagers meet while staring at a blinking green light on the wall that only they seem to notice. Latinx James is heading home to Chicago after visiting relatives in Tampa; Thai and French Michelle, who was raised in Switzerland, Indonesia, and Argentina, is heading to her current home in Quebec. They meet before the blackouts, the snow--falling inside the airport--and other bizarre occurrences that take place after Michelle presses the light, which in fact turns out to be a button. Bored after waiting around with his family, James at first welcomes the distraction, as he wants to get to know Michelle better. Soon, though, it becomes obvious that they're trapped inside an airport that no one can enter or leave. This original narrative feels mature and contemplative, with its omniscient narrator describing ominous events that draw parallels between the strange corridors and passages of both the airport and the human mind. The focus alternates between the protagonists and random adult passersby as the two young people attempt to set things right. Although James and Michelle share a lot of chemistry from the get-go, their romance never detracts from an inward look into human nature that questions what makes us tick. This is a creative literary work with some thriller and romance elements that broaden its appeal. An intelligent narrative featuring introspective characters. (Fiction. 13-18)
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