Two Across

Bartsch, Jeff. Two Across. New York: Grand Central 2015. Print.

First Sentences:

"Charlatan."

Vera took a step forward, put one hand on her hip, touched the microphone stand with the other, and said, "Excuse me?"

"Charlatan," said the official pronouncer, Mr. King, exactly as he had the first time, with Old Testament rectitude.

Description:

Two very serious teens meet in the finals of the National Spelling Bee in Jeff Bartsch's delightful debut novel, Two Across. Stanley Owens and Vera Baxter return to attend the Bee each year, eventually sensing an attraction to the other's intelligence and quirkiness despite their different lifestyles. Stanley lives in a hotel suite with his mother in New York City while Vera's world consists of temporary homes i cheap hotels on the never-ending road while her mother sells computer equipment to clients across the United States.

Both Vera and Stanley want to escape their lifestyles and the plans their mothers have for them.Stanley's hits on the idea to enter with Vera into a fake marriage (with documents signed in disappearing ink), collect expensive wedding presents from wealthy hotel friends, return the gifts for cash, divide the loot, and then proceed with their own lives ... separately.

For Stanley, who dreams of avoiding college and support himself as a crossword puzzle creator, the plan is perfect. For Vera, whose ambitions include a college education and then a mathematics professorship at a major university, the plan is a means to an end. That is, until she realizes how much she misses Stanley, her "husband," who she sees rarely, and then never, as they drift away from each other.

But they share a love of crossword puzzle creation and continually submit them to papers throughout the United States. As they new lives progress, occasionally they discover coded messages in a puzzle's questions and answers that lead them to a rendezvous with their mate. And then, who knows?

A love story? Yes. A coming of age tale? Of course. A laugh riot? No, never. While there is humor and unpredictability, Two Across is first a clever tale of two wildly interesting people and the everyday obstacles they encounter (or put up themselves) that keep them apart. There is a sadness over these two as they deal with the repercussions of their fake marriage deal and the changes they undergo separately.

I was completely taken in by this book and loved the characters for their flaws, their dreams, and their cleverness. It is simply a wonderful book, full of emotion, expectation, frustration, and love. Can't wait for the next book by this new author, Jeff Bartsch.

Happy reading. 

Fred

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