A Taxonomy of Love

Allen, Rachel. A Taxonomy of Love. Amulet/Abrams. 2018. 336p. ISBN 978-1419725418. Available at FIC ALL on the library shelves.

Spencer suffers from a mild form of Tourette’s Syndrome. Though he has ticks and verbal outbursts, he considers himself lucky because none of them are swears. Unfortunately, living with a mild case of Tourette still marks him as different than the other kids. Spencer’s older brother, Dean, is handsome and comfortable around girls and has many friends. Spencer, not so much. Spencer is pleased Hope Birdsong moves in next door with her family before the beginning of 7th grade. He is immediately smitten by Hope, who’s also going into 7th grade. But Dean, who is a few years older than Spencer, notices Hope too, and Spencer is afraid she will succumb to his charms like every other female.

Hope’s older sister and best friend, Janie, is amazing and travels all over the world. Hope really looks up to Janie, who has a calming and centering effect on her younger sister. When tragedy strikes and Janie dies, however, Hope is left without a center of gravity, and Spencer is just not enough to fill it. Lost, Hope loses sight of Spencer and they drift apart. Despite multiple sabotage attempts on their friendship, Hope and Spencer still hope to themselves in the end, but a tragedy and life might just get in the way.

Over the course of middle and high school, Spencer and Hope’s relationship experiences the ups and downs of trying to figure out if there is more to this friendship than being good neighbors who listen. Spencer loves taxonomy and organization, and he categorizes everything, including his relationships. Each section of the book represents another year in Spencer’s life and features a visual taxonomy of how he perceives his life at that moment. Hope and Spencer are realistically written and experience events most teens live through at one point or another. Like two orbiting planets, they are drawn to and repulse each other as they age and mature. Fans of Highly Illogical Behavior will appreciate the two characters’ attempt to reach each other despite everything that happens over the course of six years.