NO PARKING AT THE END TIMES

Even though the end of the world didn’t happen, it still feels like it to Abigail.

After the teen’s down-and-out parents sell all their possessions in North Carolina and give the money to smarmy Brother John in California—who claims that the end of the world is near—Abigail, her twin brother, Aaron, and her still-trusting parents find themselves homeless, living out of their van in San Francisco. In this debut novel informed more by adult sensibility than teenspeak, Abigail begins to see her parents’ manipulation by Brother John and questions her own faith in the world. Aaron, meanwhile, escapes the insanity by sneaking out each evening to meet up with the city’s other homeless teens. As Abigail notices her once-close brother’s increasing detachment from her and the family, she wrestles with a range of emotions, from jealousy to separation anxiety. Packed with some lovely phrasing, the story has good intentions, but a slow, repetitious plot and a lack of tension will keep it from fully engaging most adolescent readers. A hopeful yet too-tidy ending offers instant resolutions.

Thoughtful readers may take interest in Abigail’s self-discoveries.