“What to Say Next reminds readers that hope can be found in unexpected places.” –BustleFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Tell Me Three Things comes a story about two struggling teenagers who find an unexpected connection just when they need it most. Nicola Yoon, the bestselling author of Everything, Everything, calls it “charming, funny, and deeply affecting.” Sometimes a new … it “charming, funny, and deeply affecting.”
Sometimes a new perspective is all that is needed to make sense of the world.
KIT: I don’t know why I decide not to sit with Annie and Violet at lunch. It feels like no one here gets what I’m going through. How could they? I don’t even understand.
DAVID: In the 622 days I’ve attended Mapleview High, Kit Lowell is the first person to sit at my lunch table. I mean, I’ve never once sat with someone until now. “So your dad is dead,” I say to Kit, because this is a fact I’ve recently learned about her.
When an unlikely friendship is sparked between relatively popular Kit Lowell and socially isolated David Drucker, everyone is surprised, most of all Kit and David. Kit appreciates David’s blunt honesty—in fact, she finds it bizarrely refreshing. David welcomes Kit’s attention and her inquisitive nature. When she asks for his help figuring out the how and why of her dad’s tragic car accident, David is all in. But neither of them can predict what they’ll find. Can their friendship survive the truth?
Named a Best Young Adult Novel of the Year by POPSUGAR
“Charming, funny, and deeply affecting all at the same time.” –Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star
“Heartfelt, charming, deep, and real. I love it with all my heart.” –Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places
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I really loved this book. Julie has a way of bringing characters to life and she did that here with these wonderful characters. If you loved ATYPICAL you should pick this up.
This was another compelling coming-of-age tale by Julie Buxbaum. I loved these anything-but-cookie-cutter characters, their distinct ways of processing life and loss, and their unconventional love story. I listened to this as an audiobook, and thought the performances exceptional; the role of David, a teen on the autism spectrum, was especially well-acted. Highly recommended.
This one is going down on my all-time favorites. It had been an impulse through BookBub, so I really didn’t know a thing about it. And maybe that’s why it made such an impression. I had absolute zero expectations.
Both of the MCs, David and Kit were so well done in their own particular circumstances. They became important to me almost from the first page, and by the last page, I was so invested in both of them. David brought such a unique aspect to their relationship that Kit really needed. And she gave him affirmation like he never had.
I’m not going to say any more because I seriously believe that people should just trust me and read the book without any further knowledge. It’s that good.
I bought this book just because I liked the cover and was pleasantly surprised how much I fell in love with the characters and their story. So charming and full of all the feels. If you like books like this check out The Goodbye Boyfriend: A Stand-Alone YA Contemporary Romance Novel (The Boyfriend Series Book 3)
I enjoyed reading this atypical YA romance featuring a guy on the autism spectrum. In particular, I loved when he questions why it’s considered normal be a jock. Funny and sweet, hard to put down.
Enjoyed this book that includes social awkwardness, bullying, high school drama, and day-to-day teen issues. David has Aspergers which makes him social awkward and bullied. He can spout out statistics like crazy but dealing with other people, not so much. Kit has her group of friends that she hangs out and eats lunch with every day. One day Kit decides to get and sit with David at his table, everyone is surprised. Kit finds David refreshing because of his totally honesty. As she continues to sit at his table every day at lunch, their unlikely friendship takes off. When Kit asks David to help figure out what happened in an accident that killed her father, David takes it on. As he works the accident, and their friendship out, things change. What they both find as far as the truth goes, could make or break their friendship, possibly more. Loved this book that is written well and gives a perspective of every individual being and those things that make us each our own person, can be appreciated by others.
What To Say Next is a charming YA novel about neurodiversity, grief, finding your tribe and forgiveness.
Kit is a 16 year old who is still recovering from losing her father in a fatal car accident. Nothing feels the same. Her friends don’t fit the same way they did before.
Her classmate David is on the autism spectrum and keeps to his routine and himself. When Kit unexpectedly sits next to him one day at lunch both of their lives begin to change.
I liked how no character was totally perfect and there were unexpected moments of humor and familiarity within the characters. Julie Buxbaum didn’t rely on stupid tropes or unnecessary angst to show the reader how fraught life can be in high school. You really root for both characters along the way.
I highly recommend this novel for fans of contemporary YA that want a love story layered with so much more.
4.5 stars rounded up to 5 for Goodreads.
LOVED this book. I thought I had it all figured out, and of course I didn’t. I absolutely loved Kit and David, David in particular. I loved his story and how it opened my eyes. This book broke my heart as well as healed it back up. Highly recommend.
Have you ever felt sorry for a character–while admiring everything about him at the same time? Enter quirky, unpopular geek, David Drucker. Bullied by the same kids since elementary school where they dunked his head in a full toilet, brilliant but antisocial David isolates himself behind a giant pair of headphones and his pursuit of academic perfection. Until one wonderful day, Kit, the girl he considers the most beautiful in the whole school, sits down at his lunch table, uninvited.
Kit Lowell has just lost her father in a tragic car accident, and suddenly can no longer stand the inane banter of her friends in the popular crowd. “Sitting at their table…and chatting about nonsense feels like a betrayal.” Figuring that quiet David will let her eat in peace without asking her for the bajillionth time, “Are you okaaaayyyyy?” she is actually relieved by his brutal honesty–that, he of all people was the only one who said the exact right thing: “Your dad shouldn’t have died. That’s really unfair.” When David offers to help her investigate the suspicious circumstances surrounding her father’s crash, and why the physics prove it couldn’t have been an accident, she is both intrigued–and petrified.
The love that develops between Kit and David is so real it’s almost tangible. Both broken in different ways, Kit and David’s story portrays the way unusual friendships can form through hurt and loss, and that if you look behind superficial exteriors you can find true magic hiding inside anyone.
i dont really remember much about this because it was so long ago that i read it but i do remember liking it.
i like this author and have read several of her other books which i have also liked.
she has become an auto read for me.
4.5 Stars!
(Read Feb./2018)
Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum was one of my favorite books in 2016. It was inevitable that I would devour this one, as well. While I can’t say for sure that I loved it more than TMTT, I can say that I couldn’t put it down. I read until I fell asleep and then picked it right back up when I awoke. The voice she gave to David who is on the autism spectrum was fascinating and enlightening. “They” say reading fiction increases a person’s empathy. Well, this is a book that I feel could do wonders to those who misunderstand a person like David. Kit was also an amazingly well-developed heroine. The devastation that occurs in her life gives her new eyes and the ability to see past the stereotypes within high school, as well as seeing David for who he really is. This is a beautifully told story with some humor, light romance and a look into some amazing family dynamics. This book also solidifies Buxbaum as now one of my favorite YA authors.
I started out listening to this story on audio interspersed with reading. Early in, I could no longer put the book down and read until finished. This is not saying that the audio wasn’t compelling enough. It was actually very well done and the narration was wonderful.
I’m a fan of Buxbaum’s work
I believe the portrayal of David is informed, respectful and true. Kit’s grieving is also seems real, not fictional. The alternating chapters told by these two teens works and is not distracting. Praise to the author for making an atypical teen a hero in this book. I am over 60 years old and work part time in a training program devoted to neurodevelopmental disabilities.
I loved it!
I’m surprised that Julie Buxbaum thought this was her best out of all her books. I love “Tell Me Three Things” so much and this one was boring.
Don’t let the bright and simple cover art on this book fool you. What to Say Next will make you feel. I was caught off guard by how heavy this story was: Death, grief, bullying, peer and family drama…but also humor and treading in the territory of first love (or at least first kiss). Sigh.
I laughed and I cried. The audiobook narration of the female lead character: Kit was phenomenal, especially during her instances of emotional stress. Personally, I don’t enjoy reading about bullying in my leisure time, the same way I never can watch movies about boxing or martial arts competitions. Even though the underdog might come out on top, I can’t just sit there and voluntarily watch them get pummeled (there’s no physical pummeling of this story’s characters FYI). For this reason, I had enough cringes to knock off a star based on my personal enjoyment, but the fact that Julie Buxbaum’s storytelling impacted me so is a testament to her talent. Everything in this book was palpable, even the ugly parts.
Whether you’re a fan of YA or feel like you’ve outgrown it, I think What to Say Next will likely be a safe and enjoyable read for most. What to Say Next was my first Julie Buxbaum novel and I look forward to checking out her other titles.