Milo and Marcos at the End of the World

Playwright and podcaster Snipes’s debut—a tender romance with an engaging premise—is a sensitive portrayal of a Christian teenager grappling with his sexuality. Seventeen-year-old Milo Connolly’s first day of senior year is derailed by a giant sinkhole appearing in front of his Port Orange, Fla., high school; it’s further complicated when he realizes that 17-year-old Marcos Price, whom Milo crushed on at church camp three years before, has moved to town. Devout white Presbyterian Milo has spent their time apart trying to forget that summer, but when half-white, half-Cuban atheist Marcos reveals that he feels the same way, the boys attempt a tentative courtship that seems doomed from the start: Holding hands sparks a blackout, a day at the beach brings a hailstorm, and their first date ends with a meteor destroying Marco’s car. After a kiss publicly outs them to a crowded stadium and lightning strikes the arena, the boys must face their conservative families as well as Milo’s certainty that God is destroy-ing the world as Milo begins to reject his internalized homophobia. Snipes thoughtfully captures Milo’s internal turmoil on his jour-ney to self-acceptance, and the teens’ willingness to explore their relationship amid calamity offers an engaging image of headlong first love. Ages 13–up. Agent: Tanusri Prasanna, Foundry Literary + Media. (May)