This book broke my brain--in a good way. Pitched as Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler's wife, the story follows Natalie as her senior year winds up and heads into a last, long summer. On the football field where everyone she knows is celebrating, something happens. Time blinks out, and she sees Beau, a boy she's never met before, but who she feels drawn to in a way she can't explain. But Natalie's working against a ticking clock: a mysterious figure she calls "Grandmother" tells her she has only three months to save "him"--and if Natalie can't figure out what's wrong or why she keeps things that don't exist, her world may come undone. Natalie is a smart, warm, character that I liked immediately--and I loved how Henry didn't shy away from tricky questions, as Natalie is Native American, adopted by a white family. Interwoven through the book are beautiful stories, told to Natalie by Grandmother as a way of learning about her heritage, but also of explaining the world around her. Her relationship with Beau is intriguing, and her friendships are quintessential teen friendships: that is, strong, loyal, heart-breaking, infuriating, and very human.
I'll admit that I didn't always follow the theoretical explanations of what was happening to Natalie--but it didn't matter, because the end of this book is so powerful and mind-bending that it transformed everything about this book into something astonishing.
Definitely worth reading.
