The Half-life of Planets [Hardcover]

Emily Franklin (Author), Brendan Halpin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2010

Lianna is an aspiring planetary scientist…and also a kissing addict.  This summer, though, she plans to spend every kiss-worthy hour in the lab, studying stars.  

Hank has never been kissed.  He’s smart and funny and very socially awkward, because he's got Asperger’s syndrome. Hank's plan for the summer is to work at a music store and save enough to buy his beloved Fender Jazzmaster.   

 

What neither Liana nor Hank plan for is their fateful meeting...in the women's bathroom at the hospital. But their star-crossed encounter could be the very best kind.

 

Two veteran YA authors tell, in alternating chapters, the story of two kids who discover that the best parts of people can't be summed up easily. 

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up–This story is told from two alternating points of view. Liana, who loves studying about outer space, has recently been deemed a “slut” via an anonymous note, and she aims to disprove the label by not kissing anyone during summer break. Hank, who has a vast knowledge of music, has Asperger's syndrome, and he doesn't think that a girl would ever want to kiss him. When the teens meet, they quickly form a bond, yet as they navigate their friendship, they have a hard time expressing their individual needs. While the book is reminiscent of Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower (MTV, 1999) and Rachel Cohn and David Levithan's Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (Knopf, 2006), its unique qualities set it apart. The authors do an excellent job of demonstrating Hank's disorder without explaining it in detail. Liana's chapters, while not as strong as Hank's, nevertheless poignantly express her struggles with family issues and her negative self-image. Having both points of view gives readers a better understanding of each teen and the opportunity to witness the same scenes through different lenses, further aiding in understanding Asperger's. At times the story is bogged down by song titles, lyrics, and facts, but overall it is worth the read.Sarah K. Allen, Elko Middle School, Sandston, VA
© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

If the dual-authored YA novel isn’t exactly a hot trend, it’s certainly one that is gaining traction. The two voices here are Hank, a serious music geek, and Liana, a serious astronomy geek. She is called a slut in her school for her promiscuous kissing ways, and he is viewed as a freak in his due to his Asperger’s syndrome. They meet and hit it off, each thriving in the relief from labeling that the other provides, but Liana is determined to not kiss anyone all summer. As if girls weren’t mysterious enough to Hank, the fact that one likes him but won’t kiss him is a pure baffler. Hank’s obsession with rock music gives the book much of its rhythm: it infiltrates his every social interaction and at first seems cool to Liana, then a little frustrating, then ultimately revealing as they work through some universal teen relationship stumbles. A few of the crucial conflicts are overly telegraphed, but that doesn’t distract too much from what is otherwise a smart and unusual romance just about right for fans of John Green. Grades 9-12. --Ian Chipman

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH; 1 edition (June 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423121112
• ISBN-13: 978-1423121114
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,165,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I've read all summer, July 10, 2010

By 

Fussymonkey (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Half-life of Planets (Hardcover)

I teach 8th grade and I work in an area with a high Asperger's population. This book nailed it perfectly.

Each chapter alternates between Lianna's point of view and Hank's point of view. Where this book really shines is in Hank's thought process, he's constantly going back to the strategies his school councilor has given him to handle conversations and social interactions. Hank is a teenage boy and thinks about all the things teenage boys do but his wording and thought process is both funny and realistic.
Best of all, the narrators are intelligent. They sound and think like intelligent teens, not like they were written by a writer who thinks that would a smart teenager should sound like.

The overall plot of the story is wonderful too. Lianna meets Hank in the woman's room of a hospital. He has a wet stain on his crotch and doesn't know how to handle the situation, Lianna steps in and helps out. Hank is in the hospital because he's older brother needs knee surgery. His older bother has "magical" abilities to talk to girls and get them to do whatever he wants. While it's not real magic, this whole process mystifies Hank. Lianna's father is in the hospital for tests, which she never takes seriously. Lianna has a kissing problem and once she kisses a boy she runs away forever from him. Over the course of the summer Hank and Lianna share their family secrets and discover they have more in common then they thought. When Hank come forward with the truth that he has Asperger's, will that change their relationship? Will Lianna run away like she does with every guy she kisses?

This story is a wonderful blend of realistic, funny, heartwarming and heartbreaking. It was by far the best book I've read all in 2010.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We All Shine On!, August 22, 2010

By 

BeatleBangs1964 (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Half-life of Planets (Hardcover)

"We all shine on, like the sun, the moon and the stars." -- John Lennon from "Instant Karma," 1970

Liana Planet, 17, aptly named as she is an aspiring astronomer, has a meteoric encounter with Hank, also 17 in a hospital ladies' restroom. Liana's father, whom all believe is a hypochondriac is there for testing. Hank's older brother is also a patient recovering from injuries sustained in an accident. A wannabe Lothario, Hank's older brother hits on the nurses until one agrees to date him after he is discharged.

Hank tells Liana that he was named after Hank Williams Sr. and Hank Williams III, the country singers. He is no fan of Hank Williams Jr. and clings to this story even after his brother and mother tell him and Liana he was not named in honor of the country music family. A bright boy with Asperger's, which is the spectrum partner to autism, Hank is also a gifted guitarist and music as well as maps, trains and atlases are his special interests. He is also a Beatles' fan who insists on using the formal title of "Mother" as a nod to John Lennon. Hank's mother feels that title makes her sound older than 42. Fortunately, Hank has a good job at a music store and a kind boss who understands him and gives him a place to shine.

Liana is suffering from the trauma of being branded a slut by some unkind classmates who leave a one-word note in her locker. She keeps it with her as a painful reminder. She also has a kissing addiction and has kissed several boys at her school, the fictional Melville West in Melville, L.I., New York.

Liana tries to disabuse her peers of their misperception of her by vowing not to kiss a single boy that summer. Meanwhile, Hank is coping with his boorish brother, angry single mother and navigating tricky social terrain with Liana. Finally, these two comets, known for their bizarre orbits collide. Rather, over time the two become more like a double star, appearing in the same line of light, yet separate and distinct. Hank shares one secret with Liana - he has Asperger's. He even explains what this neurobiological condition means to him. In a show of good faith, Liana shares her secret with Hank. At 3, she lost an older sister who died at age 7. She even shows Hank her sister's picture.

The two bond, yet Liana feels betrayed when she learns that Hank's father is dead and that he never voluntarily disclosed that. This throws a meteoric curve into their relationship and Hank fears they will spin out of control. Luckily, they resolve the matter and Liana unwittingly helps Hank develop his social skills.

Hank gives Liana a gift that does have overtones of Asperger's. He creates a list of recordings with a theme few outside of his scholarly knowledge of music know. He chooses songs that feature a singer who has done back up for many popular artists, but whose name is not as well known. On the other hand, that same gift is tailored with Liana in mind. He picks songs that he feels are representative of her in one way and goes so far as to list songs that honor her late sister that have her sister's name in the title and/or lyrics.

This is a wonderful book about how two young people balance one another well. Hank's Asperger's is part of the story, but is not the focus of the story. He is extremely high functioning and, as readers will discover, he and Liana become more like a binary star as opposed to two planets whose orbits never cross.

The 1970 John Lennon classic "Instant Karma" and Stephen Stills' stellar classic "Dark Star" could be the soundtrack of this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming and Thoughtful, July 12, 2010

By 

Kathleen Odean "Great Books for Girls author" (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Half-life of Planets (Hardcover)

I liked the two main characters a lot and found their voices in the alternating chapters were distinct. (I just read Rick Riordan's Red Pyramid which had the same device but the boy's and girl's voices were interchangeable.) I can't speak to the authenticity of the depiction of Asperger's, but that character had a lot to say that applies to most teens (and adults) in relationships in terms of uncertainty and hopefulness. He is both afraid of kissing the new girl in his life, afraid of not kissing her, and overall, afraid of change. He refers to the kids at school who make fun of him as "those who enforce the code of conformity," which is exactly right. Both protagonists have believable problems, strengths, and weaknesses, and a lot to say. As some reviews have pointed out, the book has more dialogue and character development than action but I found enough action and romance to keep me deeply involved. It's original, charming, and romantic in the best sense of the word.