What to Say Next

Julie Buxbaum

Jul 2017 · Sold by Delacorte Press

About this ebook

"What to Say Next reminds readers that hope can be found in unexpected places." –Bustle

From the New York Times bestselling author of Tell Me Three Things comes a story about two struggling teenagers who find an unexpected connection just when they need it most. Nicola Yoon, the bestselling author of Everything, Everything, calls it "charming, funny, and deeply affecting."
  
Sometimes a new perspective is all that is needed to make sense of the world.

KIT: I don’t know why I decide not to sit with Annie and Violet at lunch. It feels like no one here gets what I’m going through. How could they?  I don’t even understand.
 
DAVID: In the 622 days I’ve attended Mapleview High, Kit Lowell is the first person to sit at my lunch table. I mean, I’ve never once sat with someone until now. “So your dad is dead,” I say to Kit, because this is a fact I’ve recently learned about her. 

When an unlikely friendship is sparked between relatively popular Kit Lowell and socially isolated David Drucker, everyone is surprised, most of all Kit and David.  Kit appreciates David’s blunt honesty—in fact, she finds it bizarrely refreshing. David welcomes Kit’s attention and her inquisitive nature. When she asks for his help figuring out the how and why of her dad’s tragic car accident, David is all in. But neither of them can predict what they’ll find. Can their friendship survive the truth?

Named a Best Young Adult Novel of the Year by POPSUGAR

“Charming, funny, and deeply affecting all at the same time.” –Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star
 
“Heartfelt, charming, deep, and real. I love it with all my heart.” –Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places

Ratings and reviews

I really enjoyed being sucked into this book! I could not put it down. Am excited to read more by Buxbaum. She is skilled at bringing her characters to life.

I really enjoyed this. The inside voice telling David's experience was very interesting, as I've only ever seen the "Aspy" outside. I had to roll my eyes at the true-to-life fickleness of teens and how the oddball who has been ignored since school began is suddenly the new "It" kid, simply because one of the Chosen Ones noticed him. I am one of those annoying people who actually enjoyed high school but I wouldn't repeat it for a ramsom. No matter the decade or what toys kids are playing with, high school never seems to change. I recommend this book to all current or former students and to anyone interested in learning more about how kids with Aspergers-type dx's think and feel and why they do the things they do; maybe even get some insight as to how to communicate successfully. Ms Buxbaum is the newest addition to my favorite authors list.

Have you ever loved a book so much that every time you see the cover of it you just sigh happily?  Perhaps even swoon?  That is my current state with What to Say Next by the very talented Julie Buxbaum.  She has a way of hitting a reader right in the feels.  I laughed, I cried, I cheered, I felt a wide range of emotions.  I had this similar reaction with her previous book Tell Me Three Things (which I also highly recommend).  Also, there was a big plot twist that was unexpected and essentially had me locked into the book, racing along until the perfect ending. This was a great book that dives into the tumultuous waters of high school drama and then the riptide of loneliness catches you and makes sure you stay.  It made me feel the grief, loneliness, and hope that the main characters, Kit and David, felt.  These two were opposites in many ways, yet each of them have their worlds flipped upside down, which brings them together.  It is a fresh reminder of the discomfort of finding yourself at the brink of adulthood.  It abuses the heart, really, as it is heart-wrenching at times, yet you feel your heart swelling at other times.   All in all, a must-read that is different from other YA romance novels in that it presents an exceptional approach of mixing humor with grief to the common struggle of finding yourself.    I enjoyed that there were unique attributes about the characters that set them apart from the general population in the book, particularly David's Asperger Syndrome attributes.  I cannot say whether or not these features were accurate, however, I do enjoy the respectful and charming way of which his character was developed.  I would recommend this for any reader high school age and older who is a fan of innocent romance and deep situations.  I would also recommend this book for readers who are fans of math and science as David's narrative is heavy in those fields.  On the other hand, it was not so heavy that those who are not strong in the math and science fields (including yours truly) could not follow along. For those who may be offended: there was foul language, brief violence, infidelity, bullying, alcohol use, brief mention of drug use, and an overarching theme of grief.

About the author

JULIE BUXBAUM is the author of the New York Times bestseller Tell Me Three Things, her debut young adult novel. She also wrote the critically acclaimed The Opposite of Love and After You, and her work has been translated into twenty-five languages. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two young children. Visit Julie online at juliebuxbaum.com and follow @juliebux on Twitter.