Zyla & Kai

A fresh new YA romance novel by Kristina Forest, Zyla & Kai is an epic star-crossed love story about first love and not just the will they, won t they but why can t they?

While on a school trip to the Poconos Mountains (in the middle of a snowstorm) high school seniors, Zyla Matthews and Kai Johnson, run away together, leaving their friends and family confused. As far as everyone knows, Zyla and Kai have been broken up for months.

And real talk? No one believed Zyla and Kai would last that long anyway. Everyone had their own reasons why these two would never make it.

Zyla and Kai met while working together at an amusement park the previous summer.

Zyla was a cynic about love. She'd witnessed the dissolution of her parents' marriage early in life, and it left an indelible impression. Her only focus was graduating and going to fashion school abroad. Until she met Kai.

Kai was a serial monogamist since middle school, and a hopeless romantic. He had  put a temporary pause on his dating life during Senior Year to focus on school and getting into his dream HBCU. Until he met Zyla.

Alternating between the past and present, we see the love story unfold from Zyla and Kai s perspectives: how they first became the unlikeliest of friends over the summer, how they fell in love during the school year, and why they ultimately broke up.

Or did they? As we hear the perspectives of their family and friends, we see how perceptions of their relationship started to shape how Zyla and Kai saw each other, and how they ultimately filtered out the noise to focus on their feelings. The story unfolds as a mystery that will keep readers guessing until the last chapter.

About the author

Kristina Forest is the author of I Wanna Be Where You Are and Now That I've Found You. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing with a concentration in Writing for Children at The New School. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with two huge bookshelves.

Summary

A fresh new YA romance novel by Kristina Forest, Zyla & Kai is an epic star-crossed love story about first love and not just the will they, won’t they— but why can’t they?

While on a school trip to the Poconos Mountains (in the middle of a snowstorm) high school seniors, Zyla Matthews and Kai Johnson, run away together, leaving their friends and family confused. As far as everyone knows, Zyla and Kai have been broken up for months.

And real talk? No one believed Zyla and Kai would last that long anyway. Everyone had their own reasons why these two would never make it.

Zyla and Kai met while working together at an amusement park the previous summer.

Zyla was a cynic about love. She'd witnessed the dissolution of her parents' marriage early in life, and it left an indelible impression. Her only focus was graduating and going to fashion school abroad. Until she met Kai.

Kai was a serial monogamist since middle school, and a hopeless romantic. He had  put a temporary pause on his dating life during Senior Year to focus on school and getting into his dream HBCU. Until he met Zyla.

Alternating between the past and present, we see the love story unfold from Zyla and Kai’s perspectives: how they first became the unlikeliest of friends over the summer, how they fell in love during the school year, and why they ultimately broke up.

Or did they? As we hear the perspectives of their family and friends, we see how perceptions of their relationship started to shape how Zyla and Kai saw each other, and how they ultimately filtered out the noise to focus on their feelings. The story unfolds as a mystery that will keep readers guessing until the last chapter.

Report

"A first love story with all the feels."  Kirkus Reviews

Romantic, heart-stirring and a little mysterious, Zyla & Kai will keep readers guessing until the last chapter.   BookRiot

A sweet, funny, and heartfelt story about falling in and out of love, and what happens next "  STARRED REVIEW, School Library Journal

 "Populated by a compassionate, fully fleshed-out cast, variously queer characters, and depictions of loving blended Black families, this joyous novel excels in its heartfelt portrayals of open communication, mental health prioritization, devastating heartbreak, and tender first love." 
 STARRED REVIEW, Publisher's Weekly

 "...explorations of the side characters and their zoomed-out perspectives, along with chapters focused on Kai s and Zyla s experiences, demonstrate the unexpected ways human lives are interconnected and how relationships are a culmination of experiences, perceptions, and assumptions. Reminiscent of Nicola Yoon s works, it s a smart, thoughtful take on a romance, ultimately imparting the value of self-reflection, positive communication, healthy coping skills, and forgiveness." STARRED REVIEW, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
 
"Forest delivers an emotionally mature and reflective contemporary romantic novel with her latest.  Hopeless romantics who enjoy angst and self-reflection will relish this story of miscommunication. Fans of Elise Bryant won t want to miss this tale of first love gone awry."  Booklist

Product details

• Authors: Kristina Forest
• Publisher: Penguin Young Readers US
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 12
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 07.06.2022
• EAN: 9780593532256
• ISBN: 978-0-593-53225-6
• No. of pages: 480
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 209 mm x 33 mm
• Subjects: Children's and young people's books > Children's books up to 11 years of age; YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Coming of Age, YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Romance / Contemporary, General fiction (Children's / Teenage), YOUNG ADULT FICTION / African American & Black