Gone by Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson

From the Publisher

That first day of class, her eyes had flickered over him the way a teacher's will. But hers had come back to rest. Before flitting away again.
It was too late. She had seen him.
Connor pretended she hadn't, but she had. It terrified him. It made his blood sing.
His history teacher, Ms. Timms.
Corinna.
What had he ever thought about, before he thought about her?

At last, Connor understood that his life was his to live. No more pity love. Not from aunts and neighbors. Not from missing mothers and fathers. Not from drunks. The real thing was his this time; he just needed to take it.

Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson, known for 'riveting' fiction (Kirkus), digs deep into the heart of a forbidden relationship. Sometimes, she tells us, loneliness can send a boy down a lonely path. Sometimes, it can take a while to find the way back.

Publishers Weekly

In addition to the scintillating premise of a teacher-student affair, this is a raw novel about a 17-year-old's search for a home. Readers will find it easy to sympathize with Connor, a recent high school graduate who lives with his aunt (his parents are both alcoholics; he is estranged from his mother, and his father is in a nursing home after an alcohol-related accident). Readers will also find it easy to see why the teen falls for his former history teacher, beautiful Ms. Corinna Timms, who had noticed the usually "invisible" Connor ("It terrified him. It made his blood sing"). Though it is not immediately clear what she sees in him, they begin a relationship, which quickly becomes intense. Connor soon decides that he should follow her after she moves from Maryland to New Mexico. Johnson (The Parallel Universe of Liars) imagines a well-drawn backdrop to this story, both in the steamy summer setting, and in the colorful, full-bodied characters, ranging from Connor's hippie aunt to Zach, his nerdy best friend, who also falls in love that summer. Some plot points, such as the painful reason behind Connor's tension with his mother, or Corinna's own revelations about her dark past, come late in the book and seem tacked on. But in the end, warm scenes of Aunt Syl's birthday crab feed—or even Connor's father's well-attended funeral—will let readers understand where Connor's true "home" is long before he does. Ages 14-up. (Mar.)

VOYA

It is the summer after high school, and Connor's life is now his to live. But what is it that he wants from his life? The future may be unclear, but one thing-or person-Connor cannot stop thinking about is Ms. Timms, his history teacher. "What had he thought about before he thought about her?" The child of alcoholic parents, one of whom now lives in a nursing home after an accident left him brain damaged, Connor has always felt that he was invisible. Ms. Timms "sees" him, and Connor is drawn in. A summer encounter leads to an unusual invitation, which leads to an affair. Connor's history has left him damaged, an easy target for a woman with her own dark history. He does not trust family or friends, although they obviously love and care for him, but the hurt from his parents runs deep. The affair with the teacher is symptomatic of larger problems in Connor's life, and Johnson makes it clear in a subtle manner without deep exploration of the events causing the pain. The focus of this novel is going to be on the relationship between the adult and the teen, but it is really a story of a damaged boy who is finding himself and his family.

School Library Journal

Gr 9 & Up - This romance set near Baltimore has the elements necessary to create tension to move the novel forward from one heart-wrenching moment to the next. Connor, a recent high school graduate just short of his 18th birthday, and Corinna Timms, his 31-year-old former social studies teacher, are drawn uncontrollably to one another. Unfortunately, the story doesn't work. The sexual fumblings, anger, and longing seem as shallow as the one-dimensional characters themselves. Corinna is a former drug-addicted dropout and Connor, the product of alcohol-addicted parents. His father, broken by an accident caused by his alcoholism, is institutionalized. Connor visits him out of a sense of obligation. The protagonist is a gifted worker in wood, not so gifted academically, who frequently views the world in geometric forms. Events are sequential, relying heavily on coincidence. The supporting characters are revealed through narrative description rather than interaction. Even the pets are props. As often as not the cat is used to arouse Connor from his current fantasy or sexual self-indulgence. There is the obligatory separation and consequent pursuit in the last pages, a trip from Maryland to New Mexico. And it is in this futile endeavor that Connor comes to realize what his life really means. But by this time, readers may not care.-Sheila Fiscus, Our Lady of Peace School, Erie, PA

Kirkus Reviews

A crowded plot and lack of subtlety mark Johnson's latest. Connor, a recent graduate, is haunted by his alcoholic parents: an institutionalized father (after a drunken accident) and a recovering but still-hated mom (eventual details reveal why-tawdry but less shocking than indicated by the build-up). When a sexy teacher-with-a-troubled-past seduces Connor, he feels safe and seen for the first time; indeed, lack of seeing recurs throughout (sun-blindness, closed eyes). Their week-long affair ends when the teacher moves away. In the aftermath of his father's funeral, Connor follows her, only to find she is using drugs again and has vanished. Connor realizes he can't wait on an addict forever, and returns to his aunt and friends, whom he has carefully kept at arm's length until now. Secondary characters-especially the teacher-lack substance; best friend Zach is a running gag about bad hair and, as he falls in love with the literal girl next door, a mirror image to indicate that Connor's relationship is doomed. Fast but flimsy. (Fiction. YA)

Details from Seller

• ISBN: 1596431385
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
• Pub. Date: March 2007
• Condition:

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