BOOKLIST
Laura and Jonas are beshert, or fated soul mates. At 14, Laura lives in Woodstock, New York, with her hippie mom, her stoner brother, and her mother’s violently abusive boyfriend, and she visits her father in Manhattan every couple of weeks. Jonas, 16, lives in New York City and is also the child of divorced parents, although he is still angry at his father for deserting his mom and avoids seeing him as much as possible. Laura and Jonas first become aware of each other as the subway passes through a station—he is riding in a train car and she is waiting on the platform. But this is no simple love story: Laura is living in 1973 and Jonas lives in the present. Baskin (Runt, 2013) methodically and tautly unwinds their time- transcending romance, touching on their shared interest in art and Laura’s growing confidence, which allows her to leave her abusive home. Artfully depicting the transformation of New York City through photography and street art, Baskin interweaves a powerful narrative of change into an already powerful love story. — Francisca Goldsmith