by Sarah Mlynowski
Genre(s): Sci-Fi (faux), Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Teen Romance
Basic Content Information: New York City/Tribeca high end public school sophomores in one specific class all were accidentally infected by a “vaccine gone bad” and developed ESPs — they can hear other people’s thoughts and have internal dialogs with each other. Social awkwardness ensue, romances broken up and formed, the discrepancies between the exterior and the hidden layers of expressions and thoughts are explored, and the sordid lives of the grown-ups are exposed: the school nurse who used to be a stripper, a father who has an affair, parents who use Viagara and go at it all night long, etc. Once or twice, we see a trustworthy adult. The ending may or may not lead to a sequel.
One of the 22 affected teens might be of Japanese descent. The rest are all upper-middle or upper class whites — not entirely sure if it is in keeping with the neighborhood portrayed: Tribeca. (I searched the NYC demographics data by zipcode, but since 10013 includes Chinatown – so almost half of the residents show up as Asian, and 10014 reaches into West Village and thus more than 90% European White.) According to my husband who works in Tribeca, it is likely that this particular made-up public high school simply has more than 90% of white students. My experience in an upper east side intentionally diversified k-12 school with about half of the student body from families that are not exclusively European White is definitely different from what presented in this book.
Edition: NetGalley
Pub Date: March 11, 2014
Publisher: Delacorte/Random House
(I’m only recording the bare bone facts about the Young Adult Fiction titles I read in 2014 without expressing personal opinions — as an experiment and a different discipline. You can always follow the link to Goodreads to see other readers’ reviews.)
Click here for: Goodreads summary and other people’s reviews.
Fairrosa Cyber Library 
Yes, but did any of the 22 have an olive complexion? :)
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Haha… no… here are some of the physical descriptions: “She had curly blond hair, big green eyes, a button nose, and a gymnast’s body.” – “Tess had wavy brown hair and brown eyes.” — “She had straight dark brown hair and pale skin.” — another boy has gray hair (early gray) and is the only openly gay kid in the school. George Marson is hot and has “Dark hair, dark skin.”- “He had light brown hair, almost blond, and big brown eyes.” — “Sadie had straight blood hair, a big smile, a waiflike body, and huge pale blue eyes.” — …”extremely pretty. She had shiny brown hair and big green eyes.” Pi Iamaura who might not be white is not physically described.
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So more waifs, gymnasts, and hot boys over actual diversity. Also maybe it should be acknowledged that if you happen to have green eyes it is a given they are big. And by big and we talking giant squid or Betty Davis?
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