Before Takeoff, Adi Alsaid
Before Takeoff, Adi Alsaid
List: $25.00 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.50

Before Takeoff

Author: Adi Alsaid

Narrator: Jade Wheeler

Unabridged: 9 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/07/2022


Synopsis

The Sun Is Also a Star meets Jumanji when two teens meet and fall in love during a layover-gone-wrong at the Atlanta airport in this thrilling new novel from the author of Let's Get Lost!

James and Michelle find themselves in the Atlanta airport on a layover. They couldn't be more different, but seemingly interminable delays draw them both to a mysterious flashing green light--and each other.

Where James is passive, Michelle is anything but. And she quickly discovers that the flashing green light is actually... a button. Which she presses. Which may or may not unwittingly break the rules of the universe--at least as those rules apply to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta.

Before they can figure up from down, strange, impossible things start happening: snowstorms form inside the B terminal; jungles sprout up in the C terminal; and earthquakes split the ground apart in between. And no matter how hard they try, it seems no one can find a way in or out of the airport. James and Michelle team up to find their families and either escape the airport, or put an end to its chaos--before it's too late.

About The Author

Adi Alsaid was born and raised in Mexico City. He attended college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He's now back in Mexico City, where he writes, coaches basketball, and makes every dish he eats as spicy as possible. In addition to Mexico, he's lived in Tel Aviv, Las Vegas and Monterey, California. His previous YA books include Let's Get Lost, Never Always Sometimes, North of Happy, Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak, and We Didn't Ask for This.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sunny on July 15, 2022

This book just wasn't my thing. I think if I'd read it when I was in high school I would have really enjoyed it, there's a quirky almost glib tone to the narration that had a great contrast to the horrific events. The comparison to Jumanji that I keep seeing really doesn't seem right at all, and it'......more

Goodreads review by GryffindorBookishNerd on June 10, 2022

I thought this book had really interesting characters. I went in to it blind but I saw later that people compared it to a cross between Jumanji and the Sun is Also a Star. The premise was good. An airport terminal, a mysterious button… sounds like an interesting premise right? The world building was......more

Goodreads review by Paige on June 06, 2022

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own. Book: Before Takeoff Author: Adi Alsaid Book Series: Standalone Rating: 3/5 Diversity: Latinx MC, French Thai Switz character, Black characters, Buddhist character, Asian character, Latinx queen character Recommended Fo......more

Goodreads review by Brooke on April 08, 2023

Not my favorite book. But the teens love it! This one is about James and Michele. They meet at the airport during a layover when the crazy happens. Michele pushes a green button, and after that? Basically physics and logic cease to exist. I appreciated the commentary on human existence, but I felt tha......more

Goodreads review by Celia on March 27, 2022

RTC for the tour next month......more


Quotes

★ "Alsaid’s ominous, high-stakes narrative steadily creeps toward a gripping resolution, balancing suspense, fantasy, drama, and cinematic romance for a multilayered read." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "An honest, evocative... examination of humanity, full of both fear and hope." —School Library Journal, starred review