Emergency Contact (novel)
2018 young adult novel by Mary H.K. Choi
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Emergency Contact is a 2018 young adult novel by Mary H.K. Choi. It is her debut novel and was published on March 27, 2018 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.[3][4][5][6] Emergency Contact is a love story conducted primarily by text message, with Penny, a Korean-American freshman at the University of Texas at Austin,[7] giving Sam her number after she happens to be passing by as Sam has his first panic attack.[8]
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First edition cover | |
| Author | Mary H.K. Choi |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | Joy Osmanski[1] Jacques Roy[1] |
| Cover artist | ohgigue (illustration)[2] Lizzy Bromley (design)[2] |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young adult novel |
| Set in | Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers |
| Publication date | March 27, 2018[3] |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 400[3] |
| ISBN | 978-1-5344-0896-8 (hardcover)[3] |
| Dewey Decimal | [Fic] |
| LC Class | PZ7.1.C5316 Eme 2018 |
Background
Choi described the novel as partly inspired by Judy Blume's novel Forever..., because Blume had "said she just wanted to write a story about 'two people who have sex but then nothing terrible happens'...I love that," Choi told The New York Times.[9]
Publication
On October 4, 2017, an excerpt of the novel was published through Entertainment Weekly.[10] Emergency Contact was published in hardcover on March 27, 2018 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.[3] A paperback edition was published on April 9, 2019 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.[11]
The novel debuted at number nine on The New York Times Young Adult Hardcover best-sellers list on April 22, 2018.[12] It peaked at number eight on the list on May 6, 2018.[13] It spent four weeks on the list.[14]
Reception
Publishers Weekly, in a starred review, praised Choi's "sharp wit and skillful character development".[15]
Kirkus Reviews criticized the novel's character development as well as its "absence of emotional depth or well-crafted prose".[7]
Writing for Entertainment Weekly, David Canfield wrote that the novel "vividly realizes Korean-American culture and explores microaggressions on a sharply recognizable level" and wrote that the young adult "frame doesn't push the more challenging material to the margins, but rather renders it naturalistically potent".[16]