Charlie Hanson has a clear vision of his future. A senior at Brighton School of Mathematics and Science, he knows he'll graduate, go to MIT, and inevitably discover the solutions to the universe's greatest unanswerable problems. He's that smart. It's only a matter of time before there's a Nobel Prize in physics engraved with his name. The future has never seemed very kind to Charlotte Finch, so she's counting on the present. She would rather sketch with charcoal pencils, hang out with her best friend, sing in her pitch-perfect voice, or read her favourite book than fill out a college application. Charlie's future blurs the moment he reaches out to touch the infinity tattoo on Charlotte's neck. She's not impressed by the strange boy pawing at her until she learns he's a student at Brighton where her sister, Ms. Finch, has just taken a job as the English teacher. At Charlotte's request, Charlie orchestrates the biggest prank campaign in Brighton history. But in doing so, he puts his own future in jeopardy. By the time Charlie learns Charlotte is ill and that the pranks were a way to distract Ms.
Finch from Charlotte's illness, Charlotte's gravitational pull on him is too great to overcome. Soon he must choose between the familiar formulas he's always relied on, or the girl he's falling for (at far more than 32 feet per second).
Sorry, my vision is blurry from tears, both happy and sad. This book was about Charlie's journey. He saw his life as a straight line, but then these women infiltrated his world and made him see there was more to him, and his life, than the numbers and formulas. All of them: Becca, Charlotte, Mrs. Dumwity, Ms. Finch, Greta -- they all added a dimension to Charlie's single-plane life. The first half of the book is quite fun. The characters are very amusing and I probably was especially amused, because I, myself, am a math/science geek. With that said, the second half of the book is a lot tougher -- stuff gets real in the second half of the way, but the whole time we are treated to Alexander's beautiful writing. AND as if I had not been through enough, the author writes us, the reader, a personal letter, which just pushed me over the edge. Happy-sad tears, I cried, happy-sad tears, but I was glad I got to take this journey with Other Charlie.
