Mack’s a high school drop out, and he’s been tasked with a mission by his soon-to-be-deployed friend Tony, and that’s to take care of his sister CeCe. Mack’s skeptical of Tony’s request, part because he doesn’t think he’s good enough to take care of CeCe and part because he thinks CeCe is a knockout and the kind of girl he dreams about. In other words, he’s afraid to get too close, ruin his chances with her, and ruin his friendship with Tony all together.

The thing is, though, Mack lets himself get close to CeCe, and soon, they’re a couple. Soon, he’s falling head over heels with her, and he knows she’s the only girl for him. Even though she doesn’t share some of the passions he does, he wants to be with her. But he’s also afraid to let her in on his secrets and on his past.

Mack’s biggest talent, and the one thing he thrives on, is his ability to train dogs, specifically pits. When he finds a pit who has been abandoned, he takes her in and wants to rehabilitate her. This scares CeCe, who had been a victim of a dog attack before. But slowly, Mack turns CeCe around and teaches her that even a dog with a reputation can be loved. She believes him so much that she wants to adopt the rescue, which Mack named Boo. And that’s when the story takes off.

It takes little time before Mack finds himself in prison, then finds himself in solitary confinement, then finds himself in the position to completely change his life around using his talents. But he also knows he’s really screwed up his future. He worries he’ll never get to be with CeCe again. He doesn’t know if he can live with that, either.

Stay with Me is a fast-paced, urban novel that will appeal to fans of Simone Elkeles, as well as those who like their stories with edge. The characters in this story are what you’d imagine them to be: hard, passionate, and gritty. They’re all good at the core, though, even if they make huge mistakes. That’s what I liked about this book so much, though: as readers, we know that these are all good characters and that they make mistakes and that they are learning from them. As much as we get to know Mack’s huge mistake from his perspective, we also learn that Tony’s decision to enlist as a combat medic ends up being quite a bit of a mistake. CeCe’s no perfect girl, either. She’s struggling with a home life that’s anything but perfect, and she knows that whatever happens to her brother overseas will inevitably impact what goes on at home with her and her alcoholic mother.

Griffin’s book is a plot-driven narrative, but he doesn’t sacrifice character development. I loved how the three main characters in this story grew into themselves and one another over the course of the story, and I felt like it was extremely authentic. There was no ah ha moment for them. The events in their lives forced them to adapt, which inevitably forced them to grow. They became stronger for that.

The romance in this book is simultaneously hot and sweet, which is why I think this book will appeal to fans of Elkeles’s titles. Although CeCe and Mack seem to get together quickly, despite Mack’s initial reluctance due to his own history and reputation, it doesn’t feel false or contrived. Big brother Tony had a hitch they would be good together, and it simply took them actually being alone together for things to start. The way their relationship developed felt real, too, as it started slow and tenuous but rapidly moved into something more. If I were being honest, though, I’d say I felt that Mack was a little too in love immediately and I felt that, at times, he became a little too involved with the idea of CeCe, rather than the true CeCe. This ends up being the thing, of course, that helps him power through his time in jail.

Despite all of the things that really worked for me in this book, there was almost an over reliance on happenstance in the last third of the book. While Mack’s in jail, he has the opportunity to work with an organization that uses criminals to rehabilitate abused and neglected dogs. It’s perfect for him, and though this sort of organization doesn’t really exist, Griffin notes at the end of the novel that such things have been tried before and proven successful both for the animal and for the criminal who gains a sense of self and responsibility — and frankly, I thought this element of the story was important because it shows that even “broken” people can be fixed. However, the dog that Mack ends up working with and training to adoptability ends up becoming a convenient tool to tying him back with CeCe. See, when he goes to jail, he avoids CeCe as much as possible, but in working through this program, he’s brought back to her in a way that inevitably changes their relationship. It felt too convenient and was too predictable. For a novel that kept me surprised and engaged, this last third fell apart for me because it went too much down the obvious path.

Can I also say that this cover is fantastic? What a perfectly fitting cover to the story, and I think it has mega appeal to the intended readership. Hand this book off to your urban contemporary readers. I think this will have appeal to those who like a good romance story, as well as those who like stories that include crime. In my community, my teens are very interested in stories about gangs, and even though this book doesn’t tread into that territory, I know this book will find a good readership with that audience. It’s a story about change and growth and overcoming one’s past, which is precisely what I think appeals to fans of that genre/niche. This is a fast paced story, and I think despite the length, it will appeal to more reluctant readers.

Review copy picked up at ALA. Stay with Me will be available September 8.

This title appears on this year’s Abe Lincoln awards list, which is compiled by librarians who seek to help high school students read for enjoyment and become familiar with a variety of authors. Ultimately, high schoolers choose one book from the list as the winner. I picked up Easton’s Aftershock because I hope to get through all 22 Lincoln award nominees this year.

Aftershock follows 17-year-old Adam in his cross-country trek from Idaho to Rhode Island in the wake of a horrific car accident that has killed both of his parents. With obvious shock, he is silent through much of his travels, which include hitchhiking with a cast of colorful characters who take him through Colorado, Texas, and Washington D.C., on his way back to Rhode Island. While on the road, the story travels back and forth between what Adam is doing now and his past. He reminisces a bit about his parents, but much of his memory seems to revolve around a past romantic relationship.

Easton’s book is short and quick — about 175 pages — and while the concept sounds like it would be action packed, I found there were many lacking elements in the story. While Adam is in a state of shock, so much of what happened seemed a bit anachronistic to the setting.

Aftershock is set in the modern moment, as seen through Adam’s discussion about how the Harry Potter books sold in his parent’s bookstore are so popular and are always best sellers. As such, I found it incredibly unrealistic that Adam would never encounter a cell phone. He mentions his aunt a few times in his trip home but never reaches out for her. Likewise, I find the concept that he’d just leave his dead parents to begin walking home a little frustrating, and it’s not that he just left, but that he did it immediately with the plan in mind to go home and not to the police or any authority that would so willingly help him. Perhaps the real issue comes down to this: we never learn much about Adam before the incident, so we’re forced to believe he is able to walk away from such tragedy without a second thought. Moreover, Adam is all-too-willing to hop into a car with a stranger, even going entirely out of his way, to get home. A simple call to the police would have solved this story well before he got home.

I found the ancillary characters boring. I think there were many opportunities here for expansion and development, both for those characters and for Adam. All we ever learn about him is through his memories with a girl who he was interested in, as well as memories of his aunt and cousin. Again, I think so much of this goes back to setting the story in a modern era and then leaving out far too many details for the reader.

On more superficial levels, I had two other problems with Aftershock. First, on page 14 (and by now, keep in mind, his parents had been killed), Adam describes his mother as “the type of person who would tell anyone anything,” and then he goes on to elaborate how his mother was the sharing type. However, on page 15 (yes, the opposite page), he goes on to say that “my mom was soft spoken,” and he says it in comparison to his aunt who would tell anyone anything. So within a page, we have a contradiction about who his mom was that doesn’t fit with what we know about Adam’s reliability and with what we learn about his mom throughout his flashbacks. Indeed, his mom was not soft spoken. Had this sort of detail error been made in opposite ends of the book, I would have glossed over it, but because this was central character development time and within a one page area, I caught it and it stuck with me throughout the story.

The other detail that fits with my earlier comments about time/setting issues is this: Adam’s parents insisted on driving from Rhode Island to Seattle to attend a peace rally conference for vacation. We never learn why, but it seemed a very delicate concept to just throw into the story when so much hinges on that detail — as readers, we have to just accept that Adam never explains that decision to drive rather than fly all the way across the country. Since Adam makes a point to say that his father thought the state of Idaho was boring and useless, it seemed like the cross country drive was not necessarily a decision for the sight seeing. For me, this needed way more explanation and expansion in order for the whole story to coalesce better.

Although Aftershock left so much to be desired for me, I do think this would be a great pick for a reluctant reader. Because there aren’t a lot of details and because the story begins quickly and moves without many bumps, those who ordinarily aren’t readers would find this a good pick. More advanced readers or those who read a lot may, however, be disappointed for many of the reasons I was: there just is not enough to develop the story in as satisfying a way as it could have been. Other similar adventure stories or stories of loss are more strongly fleshed out, but Aftershock surely has appeal if not only for the reluctant readers, but also because it features a strong boy character — and as much as we think there are a lot of books with boy appeal, there is always a need for more.