THE 9:09 PROJECT

Photography becomes more than just a hobby to Jamison when he uses an art project to reconnect with his family and friends after his mother’s death.

Jamison Deever, a 17-year-old implied White Californian boy, has developed the habit of taking a photo on the same corner—the intersection of Fig and Gardena—at 9:09 p.m., the exact time his mother died two years ago. When he forgets her birthday and worries that means he’s forgetting her, Jamison decides to use the 9:09 photos to keep his mom close by looking more carefully at his subjects. As he learns to spot and draw out connections to the strangers he photographs, he also cultivates deeper relationships with the people in his life. In this brilliant literary portrait, Jamison’s charming adoration of his sister, Ollie; authentic (and frequent) cursing; and lively, energetic demeanor skillfully complement the more cerebral examinations of grief, art, love. The chapters open with intriguing quotes from photographer Dorothea Lange, and the technical jargon is accurate but not distracting. Gifting readers with a wryly funny, extremely intelligent, and sweetly romantic contemporary novel full of biting sarcasm and threaded through with tender yet powerful emotions, Parsons asks them to consider questions of meaning and value in their own lives.

Exquisitely drawn characters and deeply authentic emotions elevate this to something greater than the sum of its parts.