The First Thing About You, Chaz Hayden
The First Thing About You, Chaz Hayden
List: $25.00 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.50

The First Thing About You

Author: Chaz Hayden

Narrator: Tobias Forrest

Unabridged: 9 hr 21 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/06/2022


Synopsis

A high school student with spinal muscular atrophy is determined to reinvent himself in a hilarious and poignant debut from an exciting new voice.

When fifteen-year-old Harris moves with his family from California (home of beautiful-but-inaccessible beaches) to New Jersey (home of some much-hyped pizza and bagels), he’s determined to be known as more than just the kid in the powered wheelchair. Armed with his favorite getting-to-know-you question (“What’s your favorite color?”), he’ll weed out the incompatible people—the greens and the purples, people who are too close to his own blue to make for good friends—and surround himself with outgoing yellows, adventurous oranges, and even thrilling reds. But first things first: he needs to find a new nurse, stat, so that his mom doesn’t have to keep accompanying him to school.

Enter Miranda, a young nursing student who graduated from Harris’s new high school. Beautiful, confident, and the perfect blend of orange and red, Miranda sees Harris for who he really is—funny, smart, and totally worthy of the affections of Nory Fischer, the cute girl who’s in most of his classes. With Miranda at his side, Harris soon befriends geeky Zander (yellow) and even makes headway with Nory (who stubbornly refuses to reveal her favorite color). But Miranda is fighting her own demons, and Harris starts to wonder if she truly has his best interests at heart.

About The Author

Chaz Hayden is a debut author who, like his main character, was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy as an infant and spent his childhood in and out of hospitals. The First Thing About You, he says, is “not just about disability but about friendship and love and all the things that a young person hopes to experience.” Through his writing and his YouTube channel, he speaks with abundant positivity and encourages people to “Be different. Leave a trail.” Chaz Hayden grew up in New Jersey and now lives in Pennsylvania, where he spends too much time thinking about his next tattoo and what concerts to attend. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @TheChazHayden.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lisa of Troy on September 09, 2023

Hands Down One of the Funniest Books! Harris, a high school student with spinal muscular atrophy moves with his family from California to New Jersey. His favorite getting-to-know-you question is “What’s your favorite color?”. He is looking for outgoing yellows, adventurous oranges, and thrilling red.......more

Goodreads review by Creya on June 08, 2022

Thank you to Edelweiss Plus and Candlewick for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This was a sweet read! The First Thing About You is absolutely a book of firsts. We follow fifteen-year-old Harris, a high school student with spinal muscular atrophy, as he navigate......more

Goodreads review by Marieke on July 11, 2022

The First Thing about You is the story of fifteen-year-old Harris, who is in a wheelchair and has spinal muscular atrophy. The book is humorous and moving, and very informative. I felt like I was reading a non-fiction book in fiction form. This story is clearly written by an author who knows what he......more

Goodreads review by Alexandra on November 12, 2022

I wanted to love this book, but was left disappointed. I wish the publishers did a better job. The book blurb (a funny YA novel about a fifteen year old with spinal muscular atrophy who uses colour psychology to assess people) and some early praise online set the bar high. The fact that this is a no......more

Goodreads review by Karolina on March 18, 2024

Nie spodziewałam się, że ta książka AŻ TAK mnie poruszy. Wspaniała historia, która zwraca uwagę na niezwykle istotne aspekty oraz na rzeczywistość osób z niepełnosprawnościami. Na wizję świata, z którą muszą się borykać i na to, że inni chcą wypowiadać się za nich. Autor zwraca też uwagę na potęgowa......more