Why Must Everything I Love Die?

Perhaps that's a bit melodramatic, but, for the second time in as many rounds, the book that I thought was the clear winner is voted out unceremoniously.  So....I'll be uncharacteristically brief.

I think it might be that whole "Best Book Overall/Best Book for Teaching in Our Classrooms" dichotomy that keeps defeating my favorite (although I seriously challenge the wisdom of Calvin going out in the first round; it made me want to teach it RIGHT. NOW. I bought a class set immediately, and Book Outlet still has them on the cheap [hint hint]).

Both books are charming in their own respective ways, well-worth the reads, and I genuinely enjoyed both.  Like, a lot. And, by far, OCDaniel is the one that would find its way into most classrooms.  It is unfailingly authentic and honest, but sometimes a little too cutesy/quirky (cuteky? quirtsey?) for me.  But, I get it.  I'm not the target audience.

I am also decidedly NOT the audience for When We Collided (ostensibly sort of a swoony-teenaged romance with grief and bipolar disorder) either, but, boy, it had me from moment one.  And in ways that I'm not even sure I could identify:  look--I realize that there are ludicrous moments, and that it is often "too much" (hey, Vanessa and Deb!), but that didn't stop me from:  1. bawling on more than one occasion (actually, way more than I would want to admit) and 2. reading it in one big ol' gulp.  I was invested in these kooky kids, and I really sort of loved them.  I certainly cared enough about them that I stayed up way too late before the first day back to school (where I arrived, on time, but still puffy-eyed from full-on weeping.  I blamed snow allergies).

How does it work?  Not sure.  Propulsive, cinematic writing sure helps.  As does the alternating perspective, which has, let's be honest, become an overused and hackneyed trope of YA in the last few years, but Lord finds interesting and revelatory ways to make this structure really pay off (particularly in revealing Vivi's bipolar disorder--clever and moving stuff).  There are problems, sure (particularly with the depiction/ramifications of Vivi's bipolar disorder), but I inexplicably and somewhat shockingly loved it.

I'll shut up now.  When We Collided is going nowhere.  And it isn't even my Zombie Pick thus far (Calvin, people.  Read Calvin.).

I'm not infuriated that OCDaniel is moving on though.  Not at all.