The Geography of You and Me
by Jennifer E. Smith
The Geography of You and Meby Jennifer E. Smith
YA Contemporary Romance
April 15th 2014 by Little, Brown for Young Readers
Lucy and Owen meet somewhere between the tenth and eleventh floors of a New York City apartment building, on an elevator rendered useless by a citywide blackout. After they're rescued, they spend a single night together, wandering the darkened streets and marveling at the rare appearance of stars above Manhattan. But once the power is restored, so is reality. Lucy soon moves to Edinburgh with her parents, while Owen heads out west with his father.
Lucy and Owen's relationship plays out across the globe as they stay in touch through postcards, occasional e-mails, and -- finally -- a reunion in the city where they first met.
A carefully charted map of a long-distance relationship, Jennifer E. Smith's new novel shows that the center of the world isn't necessarily a place. It can be a person, too.
Did you miss any of the excerpts we shared on our tour?
You can go back and read chapter one in its entirety, but here are some snippets:
Tour Launch
The two main characters, Lucy and Owen, from The Geography of You and Me first meet in New York, but then keep in contact from different places around the world before meeting up in New York again.
The author, Jennifer E. Smith, shared some of her favorite places in the world in preparation of Geography's release. We'd like to re-share them with you!
A Backwards Story - Chapter One, Part 1
On the first day of September, the world went dark.
But from where she stood in the blackness, her back pressed against the brassy wall of an elevator, Lucy Patterson had no way of knowing the scope of it yet.
Literary Meanderings - Chapter One, Part 2
Book Briefs - Chapter One, Part 3
The boy turned to face her, and though it was still too dark for details, she could see him more clearly with each minute that passed. She was reminded of a science experiment her class did in fifth grade, where the teacher dropped a mint into each of the students’ cupped palms, then switched off the lights and told them to bite down hard, and a series of tiny sparks lit up the room. This was how he seemed to her now: his teeth flashing when he spoke, the whites of his eyes bright against the blackness.
A Life Bound By Books - Chapter One, Part 4
“I think we’ll be fine,” he said, his voice reassuring; then, with a hint of amusement, he added: “Unless, of course, you’re afraid of the dark.”
“I’m okay,” she said, sliding down the wall until she was sitting on the floor, her elbows resting on her knees. She attempted a smile, which emerged a little wobbly. “I’ve heard monsters prefer closets to elevators.”
The Reading Diaries - Chapter One, Part 5
“The sky.”
“You’ve got keys to the sky?” she said, and he knitted his fingers together, lifting his arms above his head in a stretch.
“It’s how I impress all the girls I meet in the elevator.”
Colorimetry - Chapter One, Part 6
“I know. Hard to believe school starts tomorrow.”
“Yeah, for me, too,” he said. “Assuming we ever get out of here.”
“Where do you go?”
“Probably not the same place as you.”
“Well, I hope not,” she said with a grin. “Mine’s all girls.”
The Wonderings of One Person - Chapter One, Part 7
He considered this a moment. “Yup,” he said finally. “That pretty much sums up my feelings about New York.”
Lucy nodded. “You would prefer not to,” she said. “But that’s just because it’s new. Once you get to know it more, I have a feeling you’ll like it here.”
“Is this the part where you insist on taking me on a tour of the city, and we laugh and point at all the famous sights, and then I buy an I ♥ NY T-shirt and live happily ever after?”
“The T-shirt is optional,” she told him.
Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf - Chapter One, Part 8
I Am A Reader - Chapter One, Part 9
“I hate that expression,” Lucy said, a bit more forcefully than intended. “Nothing is what it is. Things are always changing. They can always get better.”
Bookfever - Chapter One, Part 10
“It won’t help anything,” she said. “Worrying.”
“Exactly,” he said. “It is what it is.”
“Nope,” she said. “Nothing is what it is.”
“Fine,” he said. “It’s not what it isn’t.”
Lucy gave him a long look. “I have no idea what you’re saying.”
“Or maybe you’d just prefer not to,” he said, sitting forward, and they both laughed. The darkness between them felt suddenly thin, flimsy as tissue paper and even less substantial. His eyes shone through the blackness as the silence stretched between them, and when he finally broke it, his voice was choked.
You'll have to find out what happens between Lucy and Owen by grabbing a copy.
Tour-Wide Giveaway
- Hardcover copy of The Geography of You and Me
- ebook copy of The Geography of You and Me
- Open internationally
- April 8 - 22
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