It's the release day of What We Saw At Night, the first book in SohoTeen's new line! Written by Jacquelyn Mitchard, the story is an awesome-sounding contemporary with a classy cover.
Like the yearning, doomed young clones in Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, three teenagers with XP (a life-threatening allergy to sunlight) are a species unto themselves. As seen through the eyes of 16-year-old Allie Kim, they roam the silent streets, looking for adventure, while others sleep. When Allie's best friend introduces the trio to Parkour, the stunt-sport of running and climbing off forest cliffs and tall buildings (risky in daylight and potentially deadly by darkness), they feel truly alive, equal to the "daytimers."
On a random summer night, while scaling a building like any other, the three happen to peer into an empty apartment and glimpse an older man with what looks like a dead girl. A game of cat-and-mouse ensues that escalates through the underground world of hospital confinement, off-the-grid sports, and forbidden love. Allie, who can never see the light of day, discovers she's the lone key to stopping a human monster.
To celebrate, Jacquelyn swung by with the playlist for What We Saw At Night!
- Shake It, by Metro Station
- I Feel Pretty/But Unpretty, Glee Cast
- Me and Bobbie McGee, by Janis Joplin
- Don't Fear the Reaper, by Blue Oyster Cult
- Sweeter, by Gavin DeGraw
- Everybody Talks, by Neon Trees
- Claire de Lune, by Debussy
- Vincent, by Don McLean
- Un Bel Di Vedremo (From Madame Butterfly), by Puccini
- Make Them Hear You, by Dwayne Thomas from Ragtime (Three Mo' Tenors)
- Up on the Roof, by the Persuasions
- I Walk the Line, by Johnny Cash
- Cherish, by The Association
- Caroline, No, by the Beach Boys
- Please Let Me Wonder, by The Beach Boys
- Appalachian Spring, by Aaron Copland
- Born to Run, by Bruce Springsteen
Considering today is the release day, you should find a copy, read it, and then listen to this excellent playlist!