Published by Scholastic
Released Date - October 2009
288 pages
4 stars out of 5
Synopsis: New to town, Beatrice is expecting her new best friend to be one of the girls she meets on the first day. But instead, the alphabet conspires to seat her next to Jonah, aka Ghost Boy, a quiet loner who hasn't made a new friend since third grade. Something about him, though, gets to Bea, and soon they form an unexpected friendship. It's not romance, exactly - but it's definitely love. Still, Bea can't quite dispel Jonah's gloom and doom - and as she finds out his family history, she understands why. Can Bea help Jonah? Or is he destined to vanish?
We meet the protagonist, Bea, as she moves into yet another new school and is quickly introduced to Jonah, who through a cruel trick in school got the nickname, Ghost Boy. This fascinates Bea, who refers to our own emotional state in robot references.
Soon we find out that Bea and Jonah have many more things in common, one of which is dealing with broken family histories. In their last year of high school, they bond and cope with their family and school issues by listening and occasionally calling into a late night radio show. The unique callers, all with their deliciously crazy and peculiar idiosyncrasies create quite a cast of supporting characters.
Keeping this review spoiler-free is difficult but I will say that the real plot is discovering a secret from Jonah's past. And like so many of these secrets, this one changes the course of their friendship forever.
If you love quirky coming-of-age stories and a book filled with believable characters, pick up How to Say Goodbye in Robot.