14 new YA books to read during sweater season this October
By Lacy Baugher
Happy #Area51storm Day from your friendly neighborhood book about aliens and kids in Roswell 👽 pic.twitter.com/T6SOfvTQUq
— Farah Naz Rishi - updates only ✿ (@farahnazrishi) September 20, 2019
I Hope You Get This Message – Farah Naz Rishi
What would you do if you thought you (probably) only had seven days left to live?
A group of teens must not only face down not only the mistakes they’ve made in the past, but potentially the end of the world in this sci-fi debut.
I Hope You Get This Message brings together the disparate stories of three teens in the wake of reports that Earth has been receiving messages from a mysterious alien planet. And if these messages are being interpreted correctly, well, it’s bad news for planet Earth.
The story follows Adeem, Cate and Jesse, who are each looking for the family and connection that they feel their lives lack. But their stories and lives intertwine in strange and surprising ways as the days count down to potential Armageddon and worldwide chaos. And for all its oddities, their journey – both separately and together – ends up being strangely hopeful.
The official synopsis gives us more details.
"When news stations start reporting that Earth has been contacted by a planet named Alma, the world is abuzz with rumors that the alien entity is giving mankind only few days to live before they hit the kill switch on civilization. For high school truant Jesse Hewitt, though, nothing has ever felt permanent. Not the guys he hooks up with. Not the jobs his underpaid mom works so hard to hold down. Life has dealt him one bad blow after another — so what does it matter if it all ends now? Cate Collins, on the other hand, is desperate to use this time to find the father she’s never met, the man she grew up hearing wild stories about, most of which she didn’t believe. And then there’s Adeem Khan. While coding and computer programming have always come easily to him, forgiveness doesn’t. He can’t seem to forgive his sister for leaving, even though it’s his last chance. With only seven days to face their truths and right their wrongs, Jesse, Cate, and Adeem’s paths collide even as their worlds are pulled apart."
I Hope You Get This Message is available on October 22.