This young adult novel is a romance between an uptown girl, Lucy, and a country boy, Owen.  They are both high school seniors. They meet in her hometown, Manhattan.  Her parents are wealthy, and his father works in banking.  They travel the world, leaving Lucy and her bothers at home.  Lucy does not have much of a social life, and apart from her brothers, she has no real friends.  Owen is from rural Pennsylvania, where he had a solid life and a close circle of buddies.  But then his mother died in a car accident, and he and his father moved to New York City, for a job working in maintenance in an apartment building; Lucy’s building.  The fated couple first talk when they get stuck in an elevator together during a power blackout.  The emergency draws the two isolated seniors together, but only briefly, and then other life circumstances take over, pulling them apart.  They get moved to different parts of the world, and get involved in relationships with other people.  They manage to stay in touch in the months, even though it is mostly by old fashioned post cards.  But can a brief initial interaction be enough for the two of them to base a real relationship on?

The Geography of You and Me is alternately narrated by Lucy and Owen, which keeps the narrative energy high, especially since each of them move to new towns on a regular basis, and meet new people.  Both of them are engaging young people dealing with significant issues.  Lucy needs to learn how both to assert herself with her parents and also to make connections with people outside her family.  Owen needs to help his father, but also find a way to start out on his own.  They need to work out whether they can have a relationship.  There are several literary references that suggest this novel has some highbrow ambitions.  The writing is strong, and the book is entertaining.

The unabridged audiobook is performed by Leslie Bellair and Corey Bradberry, who both have a talent for making the young characters seem believable and likeable.  They read the story with consistent energy and warmth.

© 2014 Christian Perring

Christian Perring, Professor of Philosophy, Dowling College, New York