All Alone with You

Seventeen-year-old Eloise Deane has been a loner ever since her friends ditched her for emotionally withdrawing during a depressive episode. But she’s not going to let her lack of friends, or her anxiety disorder, stop her from getting accepted into her dream school: the University of Southern California. After her father loses his job, however, her only hope of affording USC is to receive a scholarship. To help pad her transcript, her school sets her up with community service hours at LifeCare, a program that matches volunteers with seniors in need of companionship. There she meets her teenage trainer Austin Yang, whose sunny disposition puts introverted Eloise on high alert. Together, they visit 73-year-old Marianne Landis, a notorious recluse and former rock star. As Eloise learns more about Marianne’s past and grows closer to Austin, her two new friends’ kindness and vulnerability help her grow more confident in herself. This simmering romance by Coombs (Exactly Where You Need to Be), narrated in Eloise’s sarcastic yet sincere first-person voice, realistically portrays the risks and rewards of stepping outside of one’s comfort zone and learning to accept oneself for all their perceived flaws. Most characters cue as white; Austin is Korean American. Ages 14–up. Agent: Melanie Figueroa, Root Literary. (July)