SNAPSHOT
Central International School’s annual lock-in is legendary. Bonds are made. Contests are fought. Stories are forged that will be passed down from student to student for years to come.
This year’s lock-in begins normally enough. Then a group of students led by Marisa Cuevas stage an ecoprotest and chain themselves to the doors, vowing to keep everyone trapped inside until their list of demands is met. Some students rally to their cause … but others are aggrieved to watch their own plans fall apart.Amira has trained all year to compete in the school decathlon on her own terms. Peejay intended to honor his brother by throwing the greatest party CIS has ever seen. Kenji was looking forward to making a splash at his improv showcase. Omar wanted to spend a little time with the boy he’s been crushing on. Celeste, adrift in a new country, was hoping to connect with someone—anyone. And Marisa, once so certain of her goals, must now decide how far she’ll go to attain them.
Every year, lock-in night changes lives. This year, it might just change the world. (synopsis via Paste Magazine)
Unless you’ve been living under a very cool rock, there’s no escaping the existential threat posed by climate change. (Unless you’re a right wing climate change denier, in which case, it’s apparently super easy … but I digress.)
Certainly author Adi Alsaid, who brought us Let’s Get Lost and Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak among others books, has been paying attention, and has poured his feelings and insights on the issue into his new book, We Didn’t Ask For This as he tells Paste Magazine.
“Originally pitched as The Breakfast Club meets Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto, this is the book I wrote while traveling the world and thinking about the effects of climate change. It’s also the first time I’ve explored the setting of an international school — the kind I attended in Mexico City — as well as my first ensemble cast since Let’s Get Lost, though it’s a very different kind of book.”
And while you shouldn’t judge any book, let alone this apparently thoughtful by its outside pages, i helps that the cover is strking, and has the imprimateur of the author.
“I feel I’ve been very lucky with my covers so far, but this one for sure takes the cake. I love the colors, love the font and love that there’s a decent amount of plot hinted at visually. It’s the first time I’ve had my characters portrayed on a cover, and it’s exciting to see them come to life this way.”
We Didn’t Ask For This releases via Inkyard Press on 14 April 2020.