Rebuttal

Hariharan, Jyotsna. Rebuttal. 2016. 100 mins. ISBN 9780062663474. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Alex is an expert debater, but she’s not looking forward to the all-expense paid trip to Europe if she wins first place in the upcoming debate tournament. She’d rather win second place, because she would then be able to attend the Nottingshire’s Writer Retreat in London, where Mary Noelle Simmons teaches. Simmons is Alex’s source of inspiration for life, from her attendance at a small South Dakota college to her writing career. Unfortunately, she needs to win in the local debates first, and her partner has just bailed on her due to an unforeseen romantic crisis. Now she needs to find a partner, and quick, for the next round of debates starts in less than ten minutes.

Jeremy works with the AV club, and he’s in the auditorium bringing a cable when Alex sees him and asks him to participate in the debate. Since he really needs to pass AP biology, Jeremy agrees to help her, but only if she will help him get his average up in bio. A transactional friendship is thus struck, but begins to grow as the two of them realize they share many characteristics, from overbearing and demanding parents to the desire to escape the future that has been planned for them. As they prepare for debates and for biology, they also begin to plan for a future they had not dreamed was possible.

Winner of HarperCollins’ audio drama contest, Rebuttal takes the listener through a short adventure where both Alex and Jeremy discover that they are worth more than the sum of their parents and that big plans are not just pipe dreams but, with support from friends, can indeed take place.