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Published Jan 2018
336 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Discover the secret to success in this incisively funny debut, for fans of John Corey Whaley, David Arnold, and Ned Vizzini!
Scott Ferdowsi has a track record of quitting. Writing the Great American Novel? Three chapters. His summer internship? One week. His best friends know exactly what they want to do with the rest of their lives, but Scott can hardly commit to a breakfast cereal, let alone a passion.
With college applications looming, Scott's parents pressure him to get serious and settle on a career path like engineering or medicine. Desperate for help, he sneaks off to Washington, DC, to seek guidance from a famous professor who specializes in grit, the psychology of success.
He never expects an adventure to unfold out of what was supposed to be a one-day visit. But that's what Scott gets when he meets Fiora Buchanan, a ballsy college student whose life ambition is to write crossword puzzles. When the bicycle she lends him gets Scott into a high-speed chase, he knows he's in for the ride of his life. Soon, Scott finds himself sneaking into bars, attempting to pick up girls at the National Zoo, and even giving the crossword thing a try - all while opening his eyes to fundamental truths about who he is and who he wants to be.
"Starred Review. Witty, smart, and inspiring, the novel celebrates life's big and little surprises and the connections made between people that lead to profound changes." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. A story of friendship, growing up, and learning to commit to something. Grade 8 and up" - School Library Journal
"Debut author Ahmadi sets up a meet-cute with a manic-pixie-dream-girl type, but he refreshingly upends those tropes, instead telling a smart story about transformation...Both Saaket and Fiora emerge as multifaceted personalities with an engaging dynamic, and readers will easily cheer Saaket on as he blunders through toward meaningful growth." - Booklist
"This is a heartwarming and humorous contemporary YA that gives readers a realistic look at self-discovery and identity. Ahmadi writes with head and heart, captivating readers with passages that leap beautifully from the pages." - BuzzFeed
"Utterly satisfying." - VOYA
"Quirky and charming, wise and unpredictable." - Khaled Hosseini, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Kite Runner
"Arvin Ahmadi's voice will be a dynamic entry into YA literature. Down and Across is a thrilling game-changer that touches on the universal journey of self-discovery with a deft hand and riotous humor." - Adam Silvera, New York Times bestselling author of More Happy Than Not and History Is All You Left Me
"Arvin Ahmadi's earnest debut is a charming romp of a book, a heartfelt tour of a city through the bright eyes of a hopeful heart. Ahmadi proves his grit and then some with Down and Across." - David Arnold, New York Times bestselling author of Kids of Appetite and Mosquitoland
"Charmingly funny, intensely relatable, and unexpectedly moving—Down and Across is a big-hearted gem of a debut from an exciting new voice." - Jasmine Warga, author of My Heart and Other Black Holes and Here We Are Now
This information about Down and Across was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Arvin Ahmadi grew up outside Washington, DC. He graduated from Columbia University and has worked in the tech industry. When he's not reading or writing books, he can be found watching late-night talk show interviews and editing Wikipedia pages. Down and Across is his first novel.
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