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We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

Published on Like a mixture of The Breakfast Club and Deep Impact, the lives of four high school seniors from four very different teenage social spheres come together in a Vonnegut-esque "karass" -- a sort of destined grouping -- with the announcement of an approaching asteroid with a 66.6% chance of striking the Earth. Wallach does a wonderful job balancing the perspectives of his diverse cast: Peter, the star athlete who's already on the brink of an existential crisis when "Ardor" is spotted in the sky; artistic Eliza of the unfairly earned bad reputation; lovelorn slacker Andy, burdened by the weight of his even more troubled best friend; and pressure-cooked Anita, whose parents have every moment of her future mapped out for her. No one's plans, of course, involve everything ending in just a few short months, and the characters' quests to finding meaning and hope amidst their new bleak reality is poignant -- and perfectly applicable to ordinary, not-immediately-on-the-verge-of-ending life. Beautifully bittersweet and ultimately uplifting, We All Looked Up is the best new tragihopeful read for fans of The Fault in Our Stars and We Were Liars.