A Heavy Dose of Allison Tandy

April 15, 2022
High school senior Cameron keeps telling himself that he is over Allison Tandy, the ex-girlfriend who broke his heart, but after being prescribed fictional painkiller Delatrix for a basketball injury, he is not so sure. After taking the drug, Cam is astounded to find himself conversing with Ally in his bathroom. This should be impossible because she was in a car crash months before and is hospitalized, lying in a coma. While Cam is at first disbelieving, suspecting this is a side effect of the drug, Ally slaps him and he passes out, coming to with a tender cheek, making the encounter feel real. With just two weeks until high school graduation, Cam has to cope not only with the confusion caused by Ally's ongoing spectral visits, but with pressure from Chevy and Lisa, his best friends, to date again. The pair, dubbed The Happy Couple by Cam, even create a dossier of options for him to consider. Is he ready? What do his visits from Ally mean? Cam's wry first-person narration and witty banter with Ally perfectly match the lighthearted mood of the book. Giving the novel some weight is its thoughtful exploration of the fate of high school relationships after graduation as couples negotiate their commitments. The affluent Illinois suburb setting allows for some exploration of characters' awareness of relative socio-economic diversity. Cam and Ally are White; Chevy is Black, and Lisa is Jewish. A fun, fast-paced coming-of-age story with an unusual twist. (Fiction. 14-18)

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June 1, 2022
Grades 9-12 Cameron's last summer of freedom is coming up, and he plans to make the best of it before heading off to college. However, his plans are derailed as his girlfriend, Ally, breaks up with him; he tears his ACL during basketball practice; and he must have painful surgery that limits his physical activity. To top it off, Ally has a bad car accident that renders her comatose. Preparing for the worst summer yet, Cam plans on lying around all summer, recovering from surgery. When he begins taking his pain medication, he also begins to see Ally everywhere--and she's not a hallucination. He can communicate with Ally, even though she's in a coma in the hospital, and Cam must figure out why she is coming to him. Is it to analyze their relationship and why they broke up, or is it to help Cam move on from Ally after their breakup? Bishop's debut is full of wit and emotion, sarcasm, and teenage antics. Endearing and touching.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 8, 2022
Illinois high school grad Cameron Garrity is experiencing a wobbly entrance into adulthood as he contends with a brutal sports injury and a broken heart in Bishop’s sharp debut. Still reeling from his breakup with endlessly charming Allison Tandy the year prior, Cam is gutted after a devastating car wreck puts Allison into a coma. When Cam is administered a new medication to alleviate pain from his torn ACL, the dosage gives him the ability to experience “involuntary metaphysical phantasmal visitations,” which present themselves as Ally visiting him at all hours of the day and night. Along with some mutual friends, Ally attempts to help Cam get over their breakup once and for all by enacting the Cam Rebound Project, intent on setting him up with a new girlfriend. But as the pair recount the rise and fall of their relationship, and Ally remains comatose, it becomes increasingly unclear whether either will ever be able to move on. Though comedic one-liners occasionally deflate emotional beats, Bishop employs snappy prose and witty banter to deliver a smart tale about a teen learning how to get out of his own way. Cam and Ally cue as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Christopher Schelling, Selectric Artists.