Crazy for Young Adult Books discussion

My new WWII alternative history/sci-fi/suspense/friendship/romance/family relationship YA had its "birthday" June 1. It's already gotten a number of strong reviews. Here's one of them: “Past, present, and future collide in David Patneaude's soaring new novel of courage set at the dawn of the Atomic Age. One early morning in rural New Mexico, a pedaling paperboy named Bobby encounters a lost girl named Cocoa, and his fate--and the world's--are changed forever. Patneaude peels back the layers of history to glimpse the future--but is it bright or dark? A superb, enduring book, with lots of timely reverb.”—Conrad Wesselhoeft, former New York Times writer and author of the acclaimed novels Adios Nirvana and Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

Happiness is when your book gets a review that’s not only strong but also strongly insightful, one that absolutely “gets” the story’s narrative approach and character nuances and subtle stuff hanging out between the lines. Here’s an example, a recent Amazon review for Fast Backward from reader E.J. Helmon:

“Do you believe how fast you power through a book, and how much sleep you’re willing to forego to finish it, is any indication of how engrossing and emotionally wracking the book is? Me, too.

“Set in the high New Mexican desert in 1945, Fast Backward gives the reader a front-row seat to an unforgettable historical event before David Patneaude, the author, expertly crafts a revisionist reality far scarier than the actual final months of WWII. A fantastical event introduces the teenage boy and girl in this heartwarming tale of unwavering support, budding love, living one’s principles no matter the cost amidst civil liberties torn asunder. When this book was a tiny seed in the author’s mind, he couldn’t have foreseen how much those liberties would actually be ripped at the last two years.

“Patneaude has crafted a nail-biter for a book largely about waiting: waiting for the next horrific news, waiting for a memory that could save millions of lives, waiting for the government to take the protagonists parents away, ‘for their own good’, waiting for this mysterious girl to care for the protagonist the way he cares for her. As well as the alternative history is done, it’s the relationships that carry Fast Backward. Every character is indelible-from the man who delivers the newspapers, to the girl plopped in a foreign place, to the caring loving parents, to Lolly, the family dog. You’ll recognize and relate to the concerns, fears and joys of each of them. After all, they’re our concerns, fears and joys.”