Two of my favorite lines, which follow closely on each other’s heels on page 294, capture this voice perfectly in how different their tone is, even though Cal uses both to talk (think?) about the same moment. Reading The Gravity of Us feels like sitting down and listening to a teenager tell you about their wild ride of a summer. This is, primarily, because Stamper has done such an excellent job of capturing Cal’s voice. It’s hard not to fall in love with it, and its occasional shortcomings never fully outweigh its successes. It’s a heroic story, and it ties itself up neatly at the end with a pretty little bow. The usual run of YA themes is also included, from heartbreak to overcoming failure, and from fractured families to the importance of platonic and romantic relationships. Packed inside the pages, alongside Cal’s story, is everything from commentary on an unreliable press, social media stardom (and influencers), queer rights, and key political issues. The Gravity of Us touches on a lot of topics in a relatively short stress of time. In Clear Lake, Cal is pulled away from everything he loves from Brooklyn, but unexpectedly brought closer to Leon, the son of another astronaut and the perfect love match for Cal. To review the book this way would be the best homage to Cal, the wonderful narrator Stamper has crafted, a social-media-savvy, budding seventeen year-old reporter from Brooklyn who suddenly finds himself transplanted to Clear Lake, Texas when his dad is picked as an astronaut candidate for NASA’s first mission to Mars. If I really wanted to do Phil Stamper’s debut YA novel The Gravity of Us justice, I’d pull out my phone and video myself live walking through the streets of New York City while I shared my thoughts with you. The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper (bloomsbury 2020)

Phil stamper the gravity of us