The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl by Melissa Keil (review)

Even though Alba lives in a remote part of Australia, she’s managed to find a great group of friends, a lovely job in her mom’s bakery, and time to develop her artistic abilities, so it’s little wonder that she didn’t want high school to end. She’s not sure what she wants to do now, and she definitely doesn’t want any of her pals to head off into the world to take their next steps toward adulthood. All of her musings are derailed, though, when an apocalypse prediction suggests that only Eden Valley, Alba’s tiny town, will be spared, so droves of hippies descend on the town to be part of the salvation. For the most part, Alba’s too smart for end-of-the-world nonsense, though the addition of new people does shake up her life, forcing her to acknowledge that she can’t just keep everything the same. What she’s clueless about is the undying, ever-increasing love of one of her best friends, a detail that readers will likely spot instantly and then spend a significant portion of the book waiting for her to catch. Some romance, some apocalyptic drama, a sardonic narrator, and cool interspersed illustrations that add superhero flair to small town life combine effectively here. The result is a worthy addition to the fairly crowded YA field of teens who have found a little pocket of earthly heaven and don’t want a single element to change, even if it could mean good things on the other side.