It’s the End of the World and I’m in My Bathing Suit

It’s been 40 days since the last day of school, and 12-year-old Eddie Gordon Holloway, diagnosed with ADHD, is proud of the plan he’s hatched: to avoid doing laundry, he will simply wear everything in his closet until he has nothing left. When his mother uncovers his mountain of unwashed garments, though, Eddie is immediately grounded and must clean his clothes while his parents attend their Ohio town’s annual Lake Erie Beach Bash without him. Then the power suddenly goes out throughout the neighborhood, and Eddie, joined by a ragtag group of kids who were also left behind, decides that if they can’t go to the party, they’ll make their own fun. But once night falls and their parents don’t return from the Beach Bash, the group worries they might have to survive on their own. While the conclusion feels abrupt, Reynolds’s animated prose and eclectic characters propel this quirky summer adventure. Eddie’s community is predominantly Black. Ages 8–12. Agent: Beth Phelan, Gallt & Zacker Literary. (Apr.)