Like No Other

 LaMarche, Una. Like No Other.  2014. 368p. ISBN 9781595146748. Available at FIC LAM on the library shelves.

New York City has always been divided by invisible lines. Race, religion, wealth, sexual orientation, all of these elements allow people to find others with similar interests, but also serve to build barriers and keep those who are different apart. 

In Brooklyn, one such neighborhood is clearly divided by race and religion. On one side of the neighborhood are the Hasidic Jews with large families and orthodox views. On the other side, African Americans and immigrants trying to capture the American dream. The two groups rarely mix.

Devorah is a good Hasidic girl. When her sister Rachel delivers her baby at 18, Devorah is there to support her at the hospital, since her parents are away on business. A storm causes the power to go out, and Devorah finds herself stuck in the elevator for an African American male teenager. Jaxon came to hospital with his best friend, who broke his arm performing a skateboarding stunt designed to impress a girl. 

At first the two of them are quiet, but Jaxon quickly breaks the glass. Devorah panics. It is not okay for a good girl to talk to a boy without a chaperone present. As they find common interests and similarities in their lives, however, they begin to fall in love with each other, something both of them are aware could be very dangerous if their respective communities found out.

Following their chance encounter, Jaxon and Devorah find ways to meet again and even exchange kisses. Devorah's strict upbringing and stricter father, however, does not approve. Worse, Rachel's husband, a nosey busybody, tries to get Devorah in trouble, claiming he is worried for her soul. Jaxon, for his part, lies to his parents and sneaks around their back, saying he is with his best friend while he is in fact with Devorah.

Planning a weekend getaway, the two of them are caught, and Devorah is exiled upstate to a Hasidic reform center where it is expected she will rejoin the fold. Devorah is not interested, however, and wishes to escape the strict constricts of her religious faith. Jaxon, meanwhile is desperate. How can he find her? With the two separated by more than distance, can they manage to bind their love together?