How to Say Goodbye in Robot

I really like young adult fiction, but I really do not like reading about teen romance. I understand it is a prominent issue for that age, but quite frankly unless it is under the guise of the larger issue (like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins) it is hard to be involved in such drama. This is probably because the feelings are portrayed one dimensionally – pure infatuation. Every once and a while there is a novel that moves beyond this and contains a story with greater dimension. Natalie Standiford’s How to Say Goodbye in Robot is a quirky tale about a transfer student in a Baltimore school (Beatrice Szabo aka Robot Girl---what an awesome name!) and her complex relationship with her school’s resident loner (Jonah aka Ghost Boy). What makes Beatrice’s relationship with Jonah more interesting is the different layers of their friendship. The two are not “lovers”, but they are not simply friends.

SPOILER SECTION

Standiford also manages to keep us very much within the world that Beatrice sees, enabling the reader to connect with Beatrice and see the teen infatuation without making it seem contrived. For instance, the character of Wally, who eventually becomes the love interest, is virtually invisible to the reader, as Beatrice herself does not truly see him. In additon, the reader sees Beatrice's parents relationship only from Beatrice's perspective. Rather than dealing with her parents divorce with angst and self-pity, Beatrice is angry with her mother for not trying in the relationship. Nothing about the confrontation is contrived. Her emotions are real, without being overdramatic and self-indulgence.

If you like this book. try:
Looking for Alaska by John Green, The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove (A quirky modern Macbeth story) by Lauren Kate, My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park by Steve Kluger, Sorta Like a Rock Star by Matthew Quick