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From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

Solomon Reed, 16, is agoraphobic and has rarely left home since middle school. Lisa Praytor doesn’t know Sol well but wants to forge a friendship and help him leave his house. She plans to use the experience as the basis of her college application essay—not that she tells Sol this. Lisa and her boyfriend, Clark, begin spending time with Sol. The friendship that develops among the three is genuine, bright, and lively, their exchanges funny and deep. Family developments challenge Sol to take small steps toward the outside world and Lisa and Clark support him with sensitivity and imagination. Then Lisa becomes convinced Sol, who comes out to her, is in love with Clark, and that Clark, who says he isn’t ready to have sex with her, is in love with Sol. Shortly after, Sol learns about Lisa’s essay: His devastation is profound. Sol is smart and funny and poignantly aware of the impact of his mental illness on his life and his family, but that doesn’t mean he can simply walk out the door. Nothing makes this clearer than descriptions of his panic attacks. Lisa is motivated by a desperate desire to leave home that undermines her judgment, while Clark has good sense and a good heart but doesn’t reveal Lisa’s plan to Sol until it’s too late. All are highly illogical, and poignantly human, in a singular, entertaining story that dives deeply into the ethics and complexities of friendship. (Age 14 and older)

CCBC Choices 2017 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2017. Used with permission.

From School Library Journal

December 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-Solomon is a smart and resourceful teen with a love for Star Trek and a supportive family. He also has crippling panic attacks that have prevented him from leaving the house. When he tentatively opens the door to an outgoing girl, a Pandora's box of good and ill comes pouring in. Filled with quirky and endearing characters, this tender and humorous story explores issues of mental health, friendship, trust, and identity.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Publisher's Weekly

August 29, 2016
Solomon Reed, 16, suffers from acute anxiety and agoraphobia and hasn't left his house since a panic attack in seventh grade. His former classmate Lisa-an ambitious straight-A student, in need of a subject for a scholarship essay about mental illness, thrusts herself into Solomon's life with a plan to "cure" him using some armchair cognitive behavior therapy. Solomon doesn't think he needs saving (and doesn't know about the essay), but he lets Lisa in, followed by her handsome boyfriend, Clark, who shares his interest in comic books, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and card games. Heartbreak ensues when Solomon falls for Clark. Voice actors Daymon and Whelan alternate reading chapters that focus on Solomon and those that focus on Lisa. Daymon captures Solomon's awkward and eccentric personality, while Whelan adeptly communicates Lisa's arrogance. Both actors add charm to Printz Award—winner Whaley's quick-witted story with endearing, believably flawed teens. Ages 14—up. A Dial hardcover.

From Horn Book

July 1, 2016
Solomon, an agoraphobic sixteen-year-old prone to panic attacks, hasn't left his house in the three years since he stripped down and jumped into the school fountain back in junior high. Lisa, an aspiring psychologist, has always wondered what happened to him. Slyly reaching out to his mother, she finds not only a way to satisfy her curiosity but also the perfect subject for her college entrance essay, "My Personal Experience with Mental Illness." As Lisa gets to know Sol, and then Lisa's boyfriend Clark befriends him, too, the three become genuinely close. Lisa's initially selfish ulterior motive, however, portends a disruption in this happy state. Solomon comes out as gay to his new friends, and subsequently cannot hide his growing attraction to Clark, an attraction that seems to be mutual. If the resolution feels a bit too easy, everything else about the novel is skillfully done, from the fully realized supporting characters (especially Sol's parents and grandmother) to the pithy, humorous dialogue to the assured third-person narrative that alternates chapters between Sol and Lisa. A hopeful novel with lots of heart. jonathan hunt

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

From School Library Journal

Starred review from April 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-Solomon Reed, 16, has not left his house in three years. Regular panic attacks keep him from handling the outside. Yet he is a smart and resourceful teenager with a love for Star Trek, gratifying hobbies, and a supportive family. Solomon is being educated online and doesn't feel that any social life he might be missing is worth the mental anguish that daily life causes him to endure. However, he knows he can't live like this forever. Then Lisa Praytor, a vivacious and take-charge extrovert appears, wanting to be his friend. Lisa is convinced that she can treat Solomon's agoraphobia and get him outside. She is also convinced that the experience will help her write the best college essay and win a scholarship for a prominent psychology program. However, Lisa uncovers more than she expected as she and her boyfriend Clark get to know and grow close to the recluse. Sol's grandmother makes a grand gesture of building a backyard pool to encourage the boy's efforts to overcome his anxiety. What looks like a typical friendship story is blended with issues of trust, vulnerability, and identity. Solomon's agoraphobia is not the only thing that defines him, which speaks to the larger message about those living with mental illness. Each character has an authentic voice and temperament that feel realistic, and the alternating narratives capture the perspective of the bright, witty, and decidedly quirky protagonists. The spare writing makes this a taut, tender, and appealing read. VERDICT A logical choice for Whaley's fans, Trekkies, and sensitive readers of all stripes.-Briana Moore, School Library Journal

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Booklist

March 1, 2016
Grades 9-12 After a panic attack in eighth grade, during which he stripped to his underwear and plopped himself in the school fountain, Solomon hasn't left his house. Ever. Lisa never forgot that day, however, and when she sets out to write a college essay on her personal experience with mental illness, she believes (ethics be damned) curing Solomon will be the perfect, scholarship-worthy topic. Enlisting the help of her boyfriend, Clark, Lisa inserts herself into Solomon's world, building a friendship while covertly observing him. But as she gets to know Solomon better, especially as he develops a crush on Clark, she realizes how her ulterior motives could threaten his progress. Printz Awardwinning Whaley (Where Things Come Back, 2011) alternates between Lisa's and Solomon's perspectives, and in their witty, bantering conversations, he teases out a sensitive examination of friendship and mental illness. Solomon, after all, is far more than his anxiety, and intelligent Lisa is nearly blinded by her own certainty. With plenty of geekery, charming repartee, and fairly realistic teen drama, this will have wide appeal among readers of contemporary fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

From Publisher's Weekly

Starred review from February 29, 2016
Solomon Reed, 16, suffers from acute anxiety and agoraphobia. He hasn't left his house since a panic attack in seventh grade, during which he stripped to his underwear seeking calm in the waters of a fountain outside his school. Former classmate Lisa-an ambitious, straight-A type who "believed in herself maybe more than other people believed in God"-hasn't forgotten him. In need of a subject for a scholarship essay about mental illness, she thrusts herself into Solomon's existence with a plan to "cure" him using some armchair cognitive behavior therapy. Solomon doesn't think he needs saving (or know about the essay), but he lets Lisa in, followed by her handsome boyfriend, Clark, who shares his interest in comic books, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and card games. Heartbreak ensues when Solomon falls for Clark. Printz Awardâ€"winner Whaley (Where Things Come Back) again tackles heavy, heady topics with a light touch, populating his perceptive and quick-witted story with endearing, believably flawed teens. Solomon's parents and grandmother are refreshingly supportive, letting Solomon take the lead as he tests the possibility of re-entry. Ages 14â€"up. Agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House.

From Kirkus

Starred review from February 15, 2016
A teen with her sights set on a scholarship for a psychology undergraduate program befriends a boy with agoraphobia in order to write an essay about the experience in this novel from Printz Medal winner Whaley. Sixteen-year-old Solomon last left his house back in seventh grade, when, one day during a particularly horrible anxiety attack, he shed his clothing and climbed into a fountain at school. His former classmate Lisa, ambitious to a fault ("You're like Lady Macbeth without the murder" says her boyfriend, Clark), has long wondered what became of him and angles her way into his life. She begins to visit Solomon daily and is surprised at how funny and easygoing he is, eventually bringing into the fold a reluctant Clark, who quickly bonds with him. In part because Solomon has earlier come out as gay to her, this eventually piques Lisa's jealousy and sets the stage for a heartbreaking clash among the three. Chapters alternate between Sol's and Lisa's third-person narrations and brim over with warm, witty, authentic dialogue. Solomon's descriptions of his anxiety are achingly real, and the adoration his family has for him, even as they fear he will never leave the house in their white, wealthy suburban neighborhood again, is poignant. Readers will easily come to care about these bright, wonderfully nerdy, flawed characters. (Fiction. 14 & up)

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From AudioFile Magazine

Solomon is a 16-year-old who hasn't left his house since eighth grade, when panic led him to strip to his underwear and immerse himself in the school fountain. Narrator Robbie Daymond emphasizes Solomon's upbeat and agreeable outlook and his solid, loving family. In contrast, Julia Whelan portrays Lisa as an irritating, insecure manipulator who targets Solomon to feature in an essay that will win her a scholarship to a college far from home. Whelan's portrayal of Lisa's boyfriend, Clark, is warm and genuine. Both narrators reflect marked changes as relationships deepen and the characters take risks and become more honest with each other and themselves. Mental illness is merely a backdrop. Well-rendered characters; witty, intriguing conversations; and complex friendships are center stage. S.W. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine