Simon Sort of Says, by Erin Bow (eBook preview)

Presenting … First-chapter Friday, the eBook edition. Yesterday’s selection featured Simon Sort of Says, by Erin Bow: Read via Hoopla, and obtained through Sonoma County Library. Simon Sort of Says is a nominee, in 2024-2025, for the California Young Reader Medal, in its Middle School/Junior High category.

Simon O’Keeffe’s biggest claim to fame should be the time his dad accidentally gave a squirrel a holy sacrament. Or maybe the alpaca disaster that went viral on YouTube. But the story the whole world wants to tell about Simon is the one he’d do anything to forget: the story in which he’s the only kid in his class who survived a school shooting. Two years after the infamous event, 12-year-old Simon and his family move to the National Quiet Zone — the only place in America where the internet is banned. Instead of talking about Simon, the astronomers who flock to the area are busy listening for signs of life in space. And when Simon makes a friend who’s determined to give the scientists what they’re looking for, he’ll finally have the chance to spin a new story for the world to tell.
https://youtu.be/DjcV1kU7Aw0