BookBrowse Reviews The Last Boy and Girl in the World by Siobhan Vivian

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It's the end of Keeley's home town, but the beginning of her first love.

We've all had the question posed to us: If the world as we knew it was going to end tomorrow, what would we do? It's a difficult question – a very difficult one – but it makes us step back and really consider what is important to us. Siobhan Vivian, in her moving and authentic YA novel The Last Boy and Girl in the World, brings this question to life.

The novel begins with a weather forecast. It's early May and in the upper forties in the fictional town of Aberdeen, and it's raining. It's raining a lot. In fact, there have been "three weeks straight of precipitation." Keeley Hewitt, the teenage protagonist, describes the weather as being an annoyance. She just wants the rain to go away so she can wear her shorts and other spring clothes. The rain isn't a big deal – at least not yet.

As the novel progresses, the rain rarely lets up. Each chapter opens with a weather report, and the situation only grows more dire. Keeley's reaction to the torrential rain around her is rather naïve. She is a teenager who has more important concerns than "lots of flooding and drowned trees and stuff." She focuses her attention on the upcoming spring dance, prom, and boys.

Jesse, a stereotypically cool boy, becomes Keeley's specific focus. Together, Keeley and Jesse see everything around them as a joke. They believe that danger will pass. No one will get hurt. Aberdeen will be fine. Their entire relationship is built on a foundation of jokes. Keeley sends Jesse text messages and videos that she, herself, defines as "stupid jokes." Entertaining Jesse and making him laugh, she says, is her "one and only focus."

Keeley comes to life in an authentic way. She is young. She's never been around real danger, so it makes sense that she is so oblivious to the fact that her hometown is slowly being washed away. Keeley's interest in looking at "disaster selfies" and going to dangerous "Slip 'N Slide" parties instead of trying to save Aberdeen seems like a naturally immature response. It's only after the destruction directly affects her life and her house that she starts to understand what is happening – and begins to change.

The second half of The Last Boy and Girl in the World focuses on Keeley coming to terms with what is happening around her. Floating on a boat above her drowned hometown, she works to understand what in her life is worth saving and fighting for. It's in the later sections of the novel that she remembers the value of good friendships and how much Morgan and Elise, her two best friends, mean to her. She figures out how to make the most of the time that she has left. It's also in these closing sections that she realizes what a good romantic relationship entails. She must work to figure out if Jesse is the right boy for her or if someone else might be a better fit.

Vivian is a master at creating tension. Her descriptions of the destruction are powerful: "The river had poured into the first few streets, filling them up like little streams and tributaries, transforming the houses into islands. You couldn't see any blacktop. Just water. It gave the neighborhood a creepy and surreal look. The water cut everything in half and then doubled it, like a rippling fun house mirror. Houses with two roofs, trees with trunks that sprouted two sets of leaves, cars with two tops and no tires. When the wind picked up, everything shimmered, and it reminded me of the moment right before you wake up from a dream." It's with these lush, descriptive passages that I found myself awed by Vivian's ability to craft such a haunting world.

Younger readers might find parts of the novel a little scary. There are intense and harrowing situations. There is also a direct exploration of some more adult themes such as loss and sexual tension. For mature teenagers, though, the story is an important reminder that the past is never completely gone and that there will always be a connection to that which made us. She also shows us that no matter how bad a situation might get, we should never lose track of who we are. We must, like Keeley, rise above the wreckage.

Siobhan Vivian's The Last Boy and Girl in the World serves as a reminder to live and love to the best of our ability. We never know when it all could be washed away.

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in May 2016, and has been updated for the March 2017 edition. Click here to go to this issue.

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