Emergency Contact

Gr 9 Up—Narrators Joy Osmanski and Jacques Roy prove to be convincing partners in propelling two awkward misfits toward each other. Osmanski's Penny Lee is slightly detached. UT-Austin might be less than 80 miles away, but 18-year-old Penny imagines she's headed for a whole new world—literally, as she wants to hone her sci-fi writing skills. Roy takes on slightly older Sam, who happens to be Penny's new roommate's 21-year-old ex-uncle-by-marriage. Versatile Roy could be 20 or 40, just as Sam's falling-apart-life might suggest multiple ages, from college drop-out ex-boyfriend of Someone Kinda Famous to filmmaker-in-the-rough who's biding his time as an overqualified barista forced to sleep where he works. Penny and Sam's chance second meeting involving a panic attack results in their fatefully designating each another as "emergency contacts." Let the texting begin.