Midnights With You

Starred review from September 15, 2024
Grades 10-12 *Starred Review* Deedee is caught between her mother's past and her own future. Shrouded in secrecy and an unexplained hatred for her Filipino background and other immigrants, her mother's history is out of reach. So when the Vietnamese neighbor boy, Jay, offers her driving lessons in exchange for tutoring, Deedee jumps at the chance. Before long, they're on long drives at midnight and impromptu road trips to find the truth. However, they both must accept the truth about themselves before they can move forward. As Deedee and Jay fall further into a toxic relationship, dependent on each other in the absence of understanding from anyone else, their patterns become devastatingly cyclical, mirroring their respective parental relationships with elements of reliance and snapping outbursts that border on abuse. With poor models to base their relationship on, both struggle to escape their own behaviors and are forced to confront themselves if they want any chance of a future together. This makes for an achingly authentic portrayal of a romance between teens growing up too fast due to family circumstances. Heartfelt and woven together by themes of responsibility, generational trauma, privacy, and maturity, this debut will strike a chord with fans of Erika L. S�nchez's I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (2017) and Mary H. K. Choi's Yolk (2021).

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October 1, 2024
While a Massachusetts teen navigates a budding relationship, family issues threaten everything she longs for. Ever since her white American father died, Lourdes "Deedee" Walters has lived with her controlling Filipino immigrant mom, who seems to hate her and never talks about the Philippines. Deedee yearns for an escape. While out walking restlessly around the neighborhood one night, she meets Jay Hayes, her mysterious new white and Vietnamese American neighbor. They strike a deal: Deedee will tutor him, and Jay will give her driving lessons. Their secret midnight drives blossom into something more, but the closer they get, the more life tears them apart. As Jay helps Deedee uncover her mother's past, and Jay reveals more about his own history, the family traumas they're each dealing with may prove too significant to overcome. As they navigate their painful inheritances, Jay and Deedee must decide what's best for them, both individually and together. Romance grows within a story that's heavily rooted in the family issues that affect both teens' thoughts, emotions, and actions. The central theme of love is depicted and explored through the lenses of suffering, sacrifice, money, friendship, and efforts to fix others. Deedee's mother's verbal abuse, often repeated in Deedee's own self-hating thoughts, weighs heavily. Racism, microaggressions, and internalized racism are prevalent throughout; the teens live in a predominately white town and have family histories of war and immigration. A romance steeped in an emotionally gut-wrenching tale of trauma. (content warning)(Romance. 14-18)

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November 1, 2024

Gr 10 Up-Deedee needs an escape from her mother's anger over the family's unsaid ghosts. Jay needs an escape from the pressure to perform for his family. The unlikely pair meet one midnight and strike up a secret relationship neither saw coming. Bonding during afternoon tutoring and midnight driving lessons propels the pair into having hard conversations about their anger and anxiety. However, what draws Deedee and Jay closer may collapse their whole relationship. Osongco successfully tackles a story of transgenerational trauma and complex relationships through the hopeful lens of a love story. Deedee and Jay's interactions with each other are so raw and real that readers will quickly fall into rhythm with their seemingly simple, but truly life-changing, conversations. The pacing of nighttime meetups after tough days flows smoothly, easily moving the story briskly along. As they grow closer, Deedee realizes her anxieties often keep her from seeing the truth. At the same time, Jay battles the need to stretch himself thin. The characters' breaking point triggers a gradual healing and growth process (over years of time) that lends ultimate credibility to the reality of evolving relationships. Deedee is biracial (Filipina and white) as is Jay (Vietnamese and white). A list of trigger warnings precedes the novel. VERDICT An emotionally gripping debut novel that shines with hope, even through its traumas and trials.-Emily Walker

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