Meet Me in Outer Space

Gr 9 Up—This YA debut offers an #OwnVoices look at what it is like to live with central auditory processing disorder (CAPD). Edie Kits is a college student studying fashion who hopes to spend the summer and beyond in Paris. Everything is on track except French 102. Learning a language is hard enough, but when you add Edie's CAPD into the mix, passing the class begins to feel impossible. Her professor is not particularly helpful when she asks for accommodations, but the TA for the class, Wesley Hudson, is more understanding and also more distracting. Hudson volunteers to tutor Edie in French, and soon it becomes clear that they both want more than just a tutoring relationship. Edie makes her desire to focus on passing French and going to Paris very clear, while Hudson makes his romantic intentions equally clear. Though readers may wish that Hudson respected Edie's intentions, the attraction between the two of them is well drawn. Edie and Hudson are both likable, if thinly developed, characters whom many will want to see together despite missteps from both of them. The ending feels a bit rushed and will leave teens wondering how Edie and Hudson will work out their issues.