"Loves, family and first times like you’ve never read before, this is an inventive and intimate love story like no other."
November 2024 Book of the Month
In 24 seconds Neon will have sex for the first time with his girlfriend Aria, right now he’s in the toilet trying to calm his nerves. 24 minutes ago he was knocking on Aria’s front door, full of love and anticipation. 24 hours before that he was working on his school year book project and receiving romance advice from his big sister.
Twenty-Four Seconds From Now continues in this unique style, moving back through Neon’s story in increments of 24. Hours, days, weeks and months. As we travel back through his life we learn not only the story of his relationship with Aria, but also the stories of his friends, family and community. With Jason Reynold’s unique gift for conjuring up with only a few words the very essence of a character, Neon’s world and history is laid before us. From Aria’s pushy parents to Neon’s grandparents’s own love story, Reynolds once again shows that he can say more in a couple of lines than most authors can in numerous chapters.
In his acknowledgements Reynolds states that Black boys deserve love stories too, and wow has he delivered. Full of all the tender hopes and fears of first love, Neon’s story is honest, authentic and beautifully. A welcome antidote to toxic masculinity, here we have a main character who cries when others cry, and loves without embarrassment. Whilst the friends and family who surround him are equally well-developed, not least his hilariously direct Mum and full-of-wisdom Gammy.
At one point Neon's Grandy ponders "But I don't know if you can really be great if you can't... do... romance." If romance is a qualification for greatness, rest assured Reynolds is one of the greatest writers for young people we have. A must read.
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Seventeen-year-old Neon is about to have sex with his girlfriend, Aria, for the first time. In 24 seconds to be precise. He's hiding in the bathroom, nervous, wanting to do everything right . . .
Rewind. To 24 minutes earlier where Neon rushes from work, taking the gift of fried chicken to Aria's house.
Rewind again. To 24 hours earlier when Neon's big sister has advice about sex which makes him think he probably shouldn't be listening to his friends.
To 24 days earlier. To 24 weeks earlier. To 24 months earlier, when he and Aria first met.
This tender, sweet, wholesome piece of fiction discusses how to approach first sex, how to respect women, how to be gentle, how to make it about love. It shows us a refreshingly different side to male sexuality.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Twenty-Four Seconds from Now and determined it is suitable for children aged 15-18 years old
Twenty-Four Seconds from Now features in the following genres: Featured Books for Young Adults, Books of the Month, Recommendations, Star Books, Stories about Family and Friends, Romance / Relationship Stories, PSHE: Sex Education, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: Body and health, Personal Social Health Economic (PSHE)
Twenty-Four Seconds from Now is available in Hardback, Paperback
Twenty-Four Seconds from Now was written by Jason Reynolds and published by Faber & Faber
Twenty-Four Seconds from Now has 239 pages
£8.09
