Some Other Now

By: Sarah Everett

Narrated by: Jeanette Illidge

This Is Us for teens, this luminous and heartbreaking contemporary novel follows a girl caught between two brothers as the three of them navigate family, loss, and love over the course of two summers. For fans of Far From the Tree, Emergency Contact, and Nina LaCour.

Before she kissed one of the Cohen boys, seventeen-year-old Jessi Rumfield knew what it was like to have a family—even if, technically, that family didn’t belong to her. She’d spent her childhood in the house next door, challenging Rowan Cohen to tennis matches while his older brother, Luke, studied in the background and Mel watched over the three like the mother Jessi always wished she had.

But then everything changed. It’s been almost a year since Jessi last visited the Cohen house. Rowan is gone. Mel is in remission and Luke hates Jessi for the role she played in breaking his family apart. Now Jessi spends her days at a dead-end summer job avoiding her real mother, who suddenly wants to play a role in Jessi's life after being absent for so long. But when Luke comes home from college, it's hard to ignore the past. And when he asks Jessi to pretend to be his girlfriend for the final months of Mel’s life, Jessi finds herself drawn back into the world of the Cohens. Everything’s changed, but Jessi can’t help wanting to be a Cohen, even if it means playing pretend for one final summer.

Unforgettable

SOME OTHER NOW hit home and is going to stay with me for a very, very long time. Although my childhood circumstances were different, there were many things that I had in common with Jessi. I could so relate to the pain Jessi felt of desperately wanting to fit in and have a family to love me, accept me, welcome me. I, too, filled my hours with as many activities as I could to stay busy (or I'd chose to get lost in a really great book.) I, too, didn't feel like I deserved good things in my life...and there were many other things that Jessi said/believed about herself that were spot-on. I ache for the child I used to be and am grateful I'm not that person anymore.

Growing up in an abusive home, I looked for other role models and often longed for the mothers of my friends to mother me. I was very fortunate to have many who did. My paternal grandparents were a lifeline, even though they had no idea what was going on at home. I also had an aunt and uncle who I could admire. I wanted to be like them and I learned a lot by observing.

My heart absolutely aches from listening to this beautiful and painful novel. Jeanette Illidge did a fantastic job narrating.

I so want a happily ever after for these characters, and I'm grateful that author Sarah Everett leaves it open-ended enough that it's a possibility. We all need hope, right? I got my happily ever after, so I want the same for Jessi and Luke.

And isn't it a testament to Sarah's extraordinary storytelling skills because I CARE???!!! As an author myself, I deeply admire other authors who bring characters to life and make them unforgettable. These characters are unforgettable. Brava, Sarah!