Day’s YA – AFTERCARE INSTRUCTIONS

TGIF, YA pals!

We’ve made it to Friday and I don’t know about you, but I’m planning on spending my weekend working through my towering TBR pile (and inevitably adding to it at the Brooklyn Book Festival). If this title isn’t on your list, it should be!

opens in a new window AFTERCARE INSTRUCTIONS by Bonnie Pipkin
Available in hardcover and trade paperback from Flatiron Books
Ages 12 to 18

Seventeen-year-old Genesis (Gen) is having a very tough time. Her father died of a drug overdose, her mother can’t deal, and Gen’s boyfriend just abandoned her at Planned Parenthood. As Gen recovers from her procedure and attempts to heal (physically and emotionally), she realizes that the chaos surrounding her may be the path to her growth.

From the bucolic New Jersey suburbia to the gritty underground NYC theater scene, we follow Gen’s highs and lows (mostly lows). Gen’s past / flashbacks are uniquely captured throughout the book as a four-act play featuring stage directions and lighting cues.

Gen’s emotions are raw and real. The reader feels her deep angst, her profound grief, and ultimately, her hope, right along with her. And Gen is not alone in her authenticity: Delilah’s frustration as she witnesses her younger cousin’s downward spiral; Rose’s sincerity as she stands by her best friend; Seth’s kindness as he introduces Gen to an unexpected world that leads her through recovery. All of Pipkin’s secondary characters are as fully developed as our heroine.

AFTERCARE INSTRUCTIONS is edgy and a little dark, but is also full of genuine friendship and love. This is an ideal read for fans of Jandy Nelson and Rainbow Rowell.