WITH YOU ALL THE WAY

Ada, a gifted teen artist, draws in order to help see the world around her.

But art won’t help her answer the questions she is struggling with the most: Does she love her boyfriend? Is she ready to have sex? How will she know, and who can she talk to about how she really feels? Ada feels stuck between pressure from her popular boyfriend, Leo, and warnings from her older and more experienced sister, Afton. To make matters worse, Ada senses growing tensions between her mother, a successful, and increasingly unavailable thoracic surgeon, and her stepfather, Pop, an emergency room nurse. When her mother whisks Ada and her two sisters off with her to a medical conference in Hawaii, leaving Pop behind, Ada begins to worry her family is falling apart. During the week away, Ada realizes that sex can change everything: your family, your relationships, and your sense of self. The novel centers a multiracial blended family—Ada, Afton, and their mom are White; Pop is Black; and the girls’ younger sister is biracial—with an ambitious, often absent mother and a father who acts as the central caretaker. These identities are named but not explored in the story. The emotionally well-developed central characters, smooth pacing, and frank and open discussions of sex, love, and relationships make this a satisfying read for teens and adults alike.

A tear-jerker about love, family, and learning to trust yourself.