Iranian on his mother’s side and white American on his father’s side, Darius never quite fits in. When Darius’ grandfather becomes terminally ill, Darius, along with his parents and younger sister, travels to Iran for the first time in his life.

There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.ĭarius Kellner suffers from depression, bullying by high school jocks, and a father who seems to always be disappointed in him. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on.

In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. With the exception of Caroline, who introduces Sam to the group, and AJ, Sam’s new boyfriend, who are fully developed, readers, like Sam, will be left wishing they’d been allowed to get to know the rest of the crew better.Ĭlueless meets Dead Poets Society with a whopping final twist. And while the Eights come off as flat, stereotypical cool girls, the oddball members of Poet’s Corner are genuinely intriguing. Sam is an endearing protagonist readers will find familiar and enjoy rooting for. While the novel gets off to a misleading start as Sam battles violent, obsessive thoughts that are unlike anything else she experiences in the rest of the story, Stone does offer readers a fresh take on OCD by focusing on Sam’s internal struggle as opposed to the external behaviors that are typically associated with the disorder. But when an unlikely new friend introduces Sam to a secret society of student poets, speaking her truth becomes increasingly appealing. If they found out, it would cost her everything. Nobody can know the real Sam, the crazy girl with OCD. Sixteen-year-old Samantha and her friends, the Crazy Eights, have it all-at least, that’s what Samantha has always let everyone believe.

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone