NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2019 by Kirkus Reviews Called, “both intimate and epic,” by Kirkus Reviews in a starred review, Two Like Me and You by Chad Alan Gibbs is a coming of age teen adventure full of romance and laugh out loud humor. Fans of John Green’s Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska and Robyn Schneider’s The Beginning of Everything will find what they’re looking for in this debut … Beginning of Everything will find what they’re looking for in this debut young adult novel.
Edwin Green’s ex-girlfriend is famous. We’re talking cover-of-every-tabloid-in-the-grocery-store-line famous. She dumped Edwin one year ago on what he refers to as Black Saturday, and in hopes of winning her back, he’s spent the last twelve months trying to become famous himself. It hasn’t gone well.
But when a history class assignment pairs Edwin with Parker Haddaway, the mysterious new girl at school, she introduces him to Garland Lenox, the nursing-home-bound World War II veteran who will change Edwin’s life forever.
The three escape to France, in search of the old man’s long-lost love, and as word of their hilarious adventure spreads, they become media darlings. But when things fall apart, they also become the focus of French authorities. In a race against time, who will find love, and who will only find more heartache?
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Edwin Green teams up with new girl Parker Haddaway for a history assignment in which they have to interview someone who lived through World War II. That’s how he meets Garland Lenox and somehow agrees to help “a crazy girl bust a ninety-year-old man out of his nursing home so we can take him to France against his attorney’s wishes to find a woman he met during World War II, all in the hope of becoming famous and winning back my ex-girlfriend.” Let’s see how that goes!
Our narrator Edwin is immediately engaging, with his fantastically sarcastic voice and love of lists. The way he weaves his story keeps you hooked, as do the outlandish chapter headings that give us a tantalizing taste of what is to come (ending in Chapter 66 with “In which—oh hell, just read it and find out.”).
The book is full of laugh-out-loud moments, and the author’s humor is even evident in his Acknowledgments section, which is the funniest I have come across. Despite the levity, the book also contains some of the most heart-wrenching descriptions of the war and one of the most bittersweet young adult romances that I have read. This is a wonderfully romantic and wacky story that will leave you yearning for more. As Garland Lenox is fond of saying, “You can’t make this shit up.” Except that the author did. Or did he?
My favorite read of the year so far. Even more amazing now I know it’s the author’s first novel.
Warnings: coarse language, war, suicide, sexual references, violence.
I received this book in return for an honest review.
Full blog post (31 May): https://www.booksdirectonline.com/2019/05/two-like-me-and-you-by-chad-alan-gibbs.html
Not a bad read but I don’t think it was necessarily my type of read. Certain parts did make me giggle though.
Oh my gosh, this book had me laughing constantly! From the hilarious one-line predictions for each chapter at the beginning of each chapter to the witty comments from both the elderly Garland Lenox as well as the snarky new girl, Parker Haddaway. Like chapter 60: “In which everyone’s favorite bureaucratic asshat returns.” Or chapter 53: “In which Garland Lenox tries to singlehandedly undo decades of Franco-American relations”. Of course it begins earlier on with one like this in chapter 11, “In which our hero boasts of his excessive cautiousness, despite evidence to the contrary.” It’s a road trip on steroids, with the police after this World War II veteran and the two teens who may or may not have kidnapped him according to his lawyer, a lawyer that Garland claims put him in a nursing home without his permission. The romance that got them all started on the trip though is just really sweet, and the perfect story to go along with their own trip. I love when Edwin finally gets his chance to grab his ex-girlfriend Sadie’s attention. I love how he handles it, and what she’s done that makes it even better!
The humor in this story reminded me a lot of how much I enjoyed reading Denton Little’s Death Date. I pretty much laughed almost all the way through this one. Even the emotional parts had perfect humor to release the tension. Oh yeah, the main character, Edwin, says the sorting hat would send him to Hufflepuff, which is my house, so that won me over to him right away!
This story took about 60-65 pages to get into, but then it really picked up speed.
In love all of the main characters, Garland, Parker and Edwin. Man, you can’t help but root for them all along the way. The laws they break, comically, can’t be helped. The experiences they have, all come around in the end for a much bigger picture.
It was pretty brilliant when I closed the last page.
And God, how I wanted more.
I need to know if Parker and Edwin turn out like Garland and Madeleine, or do they make it in the end….
*breathe*
I have to highlight Chapter 37. I hate dog-earring a page, but had to for this one. This whole chapter was the highlight of the book for me. I laughed so hard out loud that I literally ended up reading aloud the chapter to my hubby. He then laughed as hard as I did. It was epic!
You all reading this review must read this book. It’s one of the best debuts I have ever have the delight of reading myself. I definitely recommend it!
Edwin has been trying for a year to come up with a way to get his ex-girlfriend Sadie to give him another shot. The only problem? She’s famous now and they don’t even talk. Enter Parker, the most beautiful girl in school. She’s known for saying no to dates and she’s not polite about it. But when she pairs up with Edwin on a class assignment, he’s surprised. In the year she’s been in his school, she’s only said two words to him. But he wants to get this assignment done, even if it’s just out of sheer curiosity.
Two Like Me and You is incredibly smart and witty. I lost count of the number of times I laughed either at Edwin’s internal dialog or something that happened. I think a lot of readers didn’t much care for Parker, but I really liked her. She was smart and honest about who she was. There was a reason for the walls she had built around herself, and Edwin is just the guy to break them down.
Garland was a fantastic addition to this already superb duo, and I loved his stories. I never knew what to expect with each chapter, even with the subtext, (which I found highly amusing) and I think that’s what made me love this book even more because there was always some new adventure the trio was headed to. This was such a super fun read, between the characters, the dialogue, and the storyline there was a whole lot to love. Very well done!
Two Like Me and You is a wonderfully refreshing read. Author Chad Alan Gibbs takes his readers along for a wild adventure. The unlikely trio of a big-talking senior citizen in a nursing home and two unpopular high school students creates no end of hilarity.
The odd introduction of Edwin Green provides not just his backstory, but it gives readers a real feel for this glum character. Parker Haddaway, the enigmatic new girl at school, is suspected of being an undercover cop. Naturally, that lead this reader to wondering about what sort of crazy antics she gets into. Add one WWII vet in search of his lost soulmate–Garland Lenox–and you’ve got the magical ingredients for a zany, madcap, YA adventure.
I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Gibb’s writing style. I loved all his characters. Just like Garland’s “big fish” tales, there were many far-fetched scenarios; they are too much fun to care about the need for suspension of disbelief. Two Like Me and You is a tale of self-discovery and adventure. While there is a bit of puppy-love, this is not a romance novel. Teen and ‘tween readers can expect so much fun and laughs that they won’t even notice that Mr. Gibbs has slipped in a little history to the mix.
A wonderful, chaste road trip story that is suitable for all ages. The charming, heartfelt ending might not be a typical HEA, but it is perfect.
Edwin Green has been on a downward spiral since getting dumped by the now famous Sadie Evans. His GPA is declining and he will do anything he can to get Sadie’s attention again.
Parker Haddaway is the new girl at school and is partnered up with Edwin for a class assignment on interviewing people from World War II. She knows exactly the right person to ask for the assignment and the two find themselves at a local old age home interviewing Garland Lenox.
But Garland is prepared to give the two of them more just an interview and they find themselves on a whirlwind adventure they never saw coming.
This was such a great book and nothing like I thought it was going to be. I found the book refreshing and a lot of fun. I was completely taken in by Garland and I truly wanted him to succeed.
Edwin was having a hard time with losing his girlfriend Sadie and really wanted her back. I liked the friendship that he and Parker began to form and I liked that Parker pushed him out of his comfort zone.
One everything began with Garland it was such an incredible journey that had me laughing so hard at times and then freaking out completely at other times.
I absolutely loved Garland’s story and I wanted him to reach his goal. The places they visited were amazing and they had to stay one step ahead of everyone else.
I was sad when I learned about Parker’s past and I liked that she got to begin again but then at the same time I was sad that she wasn’t going to be with Edwin.
I was both sad and happy for Garland at the end.
I hope we get more from these characters again to find out what happens next! By Rebecca
5 Cranky stars
A very different story about two school students helping a 90-year-old get to France to find his true love.
Edwin Green was nobody special, but his ex-girlfriend had become a famous celebrity. He was still in love with her a year after they broke up, or so he thought!!! Parker Haddoway kept herself to herself until she was teamed up with Edwin to do a school project. From then on Parker involved Edwin in her adventure with getting Garland Lenox an ex WWII veteran back to France to find his one and only true love, Madeleine.
The antics that these three get up to will have you chuckling to yourself. It is very poignant in places.
I don’t think I have ever come across a book that has been written like this before, it had me laughing, smiling, wondering and even sad.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, congratulations to the author!!!
I wish this book was around when I was younger! It really brought me back to my favorite YA titles while maintaining originality and what high school is like for kids now. It’s no surprise that Chad Gibbs is likened to John Green with the wit and dynamic characters. The story is so multifaceted as are the characters. I didn’t want to put it down!
This book was so charming & delightful! I laughed, teared up and was along for every part of the adventure. A sweet, easy ready — Highly recommended!
Two Like Me and You by Chad Alan Gibbs was an enjoyable read. It’s a fun adventure story of two teens, Edwin and Parker, who break an old man, Garland, out of a retirement home. It’s a history assignment that has gone too far. The trio trick the retirement home into letting Garland out of his home for “a day” and the next thing you know they are jumping on a plane headed to France to reunite Garland with his long lost love. He met her when he was when he was shot down and injured during world war two and promised to return to her. The book was light and had a lot of humor in it. I especially liked the quirky sayings and stories Garland told. There were also some good life lessons about first relationships, valuing yourself and about what’s important in life. I received this a while ago as an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Our book club also decided to read it. I recommend this book.
I was given this book in exchange for my honest review. It being a YA book was not expecting to like it as much as I did. Basically two teens help an older WW2 vet break out of nursing home and go to France to look for his first love. The French girl who hid and cared for him after he was shot down over her town in France. They fell in love and pledged to find each other after the war. These two teens help him break many international laws in the name of love. Lots of adventure, comedy just good writing. Not giving spoilers read it and find out how it ends.