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The Breakup Lists

Khorram, Adib. Book - 2024 Teen Book / Fiction / General / Khorram, Adib None on shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 4 out of 5

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Teen Book / Fiction / General / Khorram, Adib 4-week checkout Due 03-09-2025

"A high school stage manager has to face his complicated feelings about love when he catches himself falling for the same guy as his sister"-- Provided by publisher.

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This isn’t Darius the Great Is Not Okay, but what is? submitted by redwood on July 9, 2024, 8:32am Adib Khorram creates another delightful YA character in Jackson Ghasnavi, a high school stage manager in Kansas City. Jackson has been openly queer for a while, but hasn’t dated much, aside from one conceited actor who now bullies him. On the other hand, his sister Jasmine has dated a parade of horrible boys, and every time she goes through a breakup, Jackson writes her a “breakup list” of reasons they sucked (I like how Khorram suggested this wasn’t a healthy dating history without shaming Jasmine). Sometimes, Jackson writes breakup lists for other people he’s frustrated with.

When Liam, a swim teammate of Khorram’s best friend Bowie, auditions for the school musical, he and Jackson become friends, and Jackson starts to feel a little more. Liam even learns ASL to communicate better with Jackson, something not even his own family has done (Bowie, the child of Deaf parents, taught Jackson). But he also catches Jasmine’s eye, rendering him off-limits for Jackson. There’s lots of pining and the development of a great friendship and then, well, drama ensues.

I won’t summarize much more to avoid spoilers. I love a good high school play in literature and here, there were two! Jesus Christ Superstar gives way to Twelfth Night (fun fact: my only starring role ever was as Viola in Twelfth Night when I was in fifth grade). Both of them are delightfully queered, and I love that our protagonist is a stage manager, keeping everyone organized but always playing second fiddle to the dramatic actors. I also really liked Bowie, though I felt some of the other supporting characters could have been more fully realized.

The lists are kind of obviously Chekhov’s breakup lists, so of course they cause drama late in the novel. I also really like how that was handled—Jackson gets a lot of flack for what was really a coping mechanism, and a lot of people don’t respond the way they should, but things do work out. I love Khorram’s nuanced emotions and attention to detail. And this isn’t Darius the Great Is Not Okay, but what is?

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PUBLISHED
New York : Dial Books, 2024.
Year Published: 2024
Description: 328 pages ; 22 cm
Language: English
Format: Book

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9780593616390

SUBJECTS
LGBTQ+ people -- Fiction.
Deaf -- Fiction.
Theater -- Fiction.
High schools -- Fiction.
Schools -- Fiction.
Interpersonal relations -- Fiction.