A Heavy Dose of Allison Tandy

Illinois high school grad Cameron Garrity is experiencing a wobbly entrance into adulthood as he contends with a brutal sports injury and a broken heart in Bishop’s sharp debut. Still reeling from his breakup with endlessly charming Allison Tandy the year prior, Cam is gutted after a devastating car wreck puts Allison into a coma. When Cam is administered a new medication to alleviate pain from his torn ACL, the dosage gives him the ability to experience “involuntary metaphysical phantasmal visitations,” which present themselves as Ally visiting him at all hours of the day and night. Along with some mutual friends, Ally attempts to help Cam get over their breakup once and for all by enacting the Cam Rebound Project, intent on setting him up with a new girlfriend. But as the pair recount the rise and fall of their relationship, and Ally remains comatose, it becomes increasingly unclear whether either will ever be able to move on. Though comedic one-liners occasionally deflate emotional beats, Bishop employs snappy prose and witty banter to deliver a smart tale about a teen learning how to get out of his own way. Cam and Ally cue as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Christopher Schelling, Selectric Artists. (July)