If I See You Again Tomorrow

Couch (Blaine for the Win) couples a vivacious queer romance with an emotionally intelligent time loop tale, meshing Groundhog Day with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. For reasons he does not understand, high school senior Clark Huckleton, described as having olive skin, has had to endure the same lousy day in suburban Illinois—September 19—310 times. He repeatedly attends therapy; longs for his best friend, who is living her best life after a move to Texas; and navigates anger with his mother for initiating a divorce with his father. The time loop’s monotony shatters when handsome Beau Dupont, a Black biracial teen, interrupts Clark’s trigonometry class, engaging in disruptive hijinks that establish him as everything that introverted Clark is not. When Beau flees school in a teacher’s car and Clark agrees to tag along, the two explore Chicago together, skinny-dipping and visiting a vintage movie theater. Clark quickly realizes that either Beau “is stuck in my today. Or, I’m stuck in his,” but after their initial encounter, Beau seems oddly intent on avoiding him. Their day-after-day cat-and-mouse game, which never feels dull despite repeating events, eloquently explores themes of loneliness, love and forgiveness, and the quiet power of kindness, all while maintaining ticking-clock suspense. Ages 12–up. Agent: Moe Ferrara, BookEnds Literary. (Apr.)