For All Time

In what initially seems like just a contemporary story of star-crossed lovers, debut author Miles packs a genre-bending surprise as Black 17-year-olds Tamar and Fayard live many lives falling in love. In present-day Columbia, S.C., Fayard makes efforts to show devotion to “old soul” Tamar, whose lungs were weakened by the Covid-19 pandemic that took her mother. After a hospital stay, Tamar begins dreaming of various periods in which she is a different version of herself; each time, she meets, and falls for, Fayard. Soon, however, it becomes clear that Tamar has one chance left at survival: an international cryogenics center. When an explosion happens at the airport, though, the amnesiac duo must find their way back to one another. Via dual perspectives, Miles impressively fleshes out the alternate timelines, seamlessly transitioning between them while maintaining consistent characterizations. Ranging across historical moments in the 1300s and 1920s to the futuristic 2200s, this well-paced, multilayered mystery reinvigorates the fated-lovers trope while exploring the freedom and suffocation that a fierce, timeless love can bring. Ages 14–up. Agent: John Cusick, Folio Literary. (Sept.)