Zero O'Clock by C.J. Farley

How would I describe this book: All the problems that dominated the spring of 2020 encapsulated into one family's life. Sometimes it seems like the author piled too much on the main character, but I understand the need to illustrate the frustrations and fear many of us had (and have) as we lived through 2020. 

Geth is a senior. She lives in New Rochelle with her mother and her mother's boyfriend (who Geth does not like). Geth has two friends: Tovah and Diego. She is obsessed with Korean boy band BTS. Life is not great (she has obsessive-compulsive behaviors), but it's not bad. She cannot wait to see if she is accepted to Columbia University. She and Tovah have planned to got there forever. 

Covid-19 brought everything to a halt in March 2020. Geth will no longer have her graduation or prom. She can't hang with her friends. Politics seeps into their conversations. The darkness of society reveals itself. On some level, Geth represents many people in 2020. She is confused and angry, and she doesn't know where she belongs anymore. The pandemic, the Trump presidency, school shootings, police shooting innocent black people, immigration are all part of Geth's world. She is us in a microcosm. 

At times, I thought the author was throwing too much into this one story; that Geth was personally dealing with all the issues that have come to the forefront over the past two years. But I think the point is that we are feeling the pressures of our world in ways we never could have imagined and Geth represents us in that struggle. It's a book that could be read a few years from now to remind the reader of that brief time in history when the world changed. 

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog.