MERCUTIO AND JULIET

In Rossi’s YA novel, when a neurodivergent teenager attempts to organize a Shakespeare play in his outpatient program, chaos and self-discovery ensue.

For Rian Folie, a neurodivergent 16-year-old with impulse control issues, the final straw comes when he throws himself out of his mother’s moving car and ends up (once again) in the emergency room. It is there that Rian accepts help in the form of an “intensive outpatient program” called Restorations, an organization that specializes in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. Under the leadership of his strict case manager, Ms. Rabst, Rian attempts to get a grip on his ever-wandering brain. When his well-meaning high school literature teacher, Mr. Custwell, introduces him to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (“a love play about teens with a restless brains…Ends with a car crash”), Rian is inspired to try to stage it with his fellow Restorations buddies in an effort to impress the gorgeous Aurora Diaz. But as the production hits multiple snags and Rian’s relationship with Aurora begins mirroring that of the tragic lovers in the play, Rian must finally decide: Will he will absorb Aurora’s dark addictions as his own? Or is it finally time to break free? Rossi has crafted a singular and compassionate story that effortlessly weaves together Rian’s decidedly modern experiences—at home, school, and Restorations—with Shakespeare’s timeless themes of young love and family turmoil. Rian’s narrative voice is an absolute delight, vacillating between beauty and heartbreak in the blink of an eye: “I can see my mother peeking out of the window. She’s been waiting. I wrecked her marriage. She sleeps on the floor to protect me. My sister electrocuted herself because of how I made her feel. And now this beautiful girl is breaking before my eyes.” Realistic dialogue and believable, painful obstacles make his experiences feel almost tangible. Rian’s journey toward healing and acceptance (of himself, his situation, his life) culminates in a moving portrait of a neurodivergent teenager whose struggles are both unique and eternal.

A dazzling, razor-sharp look at adolescence, first love, and what it means to stand out from the crowd.