Austin English’s Christina and Charles is a book about two unrelated people. Christina is in high school. She walks back to class after lunch period and hears people gossiping about her. She hugs her mom in the supermarket. She thinks about being an astronaut. Her mom plays weird tapes on the spirituality in their tiny car. In the second half of the book, Charles has a little brother who always follows him around. Charles tells stories about flying through space. He smokes cigarettes. He arranges his room in really precise ways. Christina and Charles are both strange romantics who could have benefited from knowing each other. But they never did. The best shot they get is being side by side together in this book. The reader gets to see how similar they are. Look, Christina and Charles are both up against the same tough odds..
