How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford

Beatrice is the new girl in a school where most people have known each other since kindergarten; Jonah is the loner who goes by the name of Ghost Boy. While Bea is initially befriended by a popular clique of girls (and attracts the attention of the school's playboy guy), she decides instead to get to know Jonah. They bond over their love of late-night talk radio call-in shows and shared family dysfunction. As the months pass, their friendship deepens into a true relationship that is threatened by family truths that they are both forced to deal with.

I absolutely loved this book. I started it off a bit slowly, not sure of how I'd respond to Bea's character, but it wasn't long before I was hooked. I loved the relationship between Ghost Boy and Robot Girl, and I'm so grateful for a book that treats friendship like a real relationship. I liked the window into the late-night call-in show that they both listen to - there are a lot of lonely people out there, lonely in different ways. This book made me smile and it made me sob, and I couldn't put it down. This book is nominated for a Cybil, which is how I found it, and I'm so glad I did. My final review: read it, read it, read it. I wish it had been around for me to read years earlier.


Find it on Amazon.

Read it with:
The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie the Second by Drew Ferguson
The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga
The Everafter by Amy Huntley
Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers