Because you'll never meet me

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Ollie and Moritz are two teenagers who will never meet. Each of them lives with a life-affecting illness. Contact with electricity sends Ollie into debilitating seizures, while Moritz has a heart defect and is kept alive by an electronic pacemaker. If they did meet, Ollie would seize, but turning off the pacemaker would kill Moritz.

Through an exchange of letters, the two boys develop a strong bond of friendship which becomes a lifeline during dark times - until Moritz reveals that he holds the key to their shared, sinister past, and has been keeping it from Ollie all along.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Two teenage boys-separated by geography and unusual disabilities-forge an unlikely friendship in this epistolary story from debut author Thomas. Verbose and energetic, Ollie lives as a hermit: encountering electricity triggers his epileptic fits. Moritz is a humorless German boy born with no eyes, a weak heart that requires a pacemaker, and a superhuman ability to use echolocation to see. The two may be eccentric outcasts, but their conflicts, heartbreak, and eventual bond form a relatable and engaging narrative despite their farfetched backstories. Most of the time the setup works, although the boys' penchant for writing lengthy direct quotations from other conversations can stretch the bounds of an already improbable story. The dual plots coalesce like yin and yang, a roller coaster of role reversals that sees both boys struggling with typical teenage problems in an absurdist landscape. While Ollie is closed off from the world and longs to see mundane things like a humidifier, Moritz has seen and knows too much. The two inevitably (and rewardingly) balance each other out as their first real friends. Ages 14-up. Agent: Lana Popovic, Chalberg & Sussman. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 Up-Ollie and Moritz are at the center of a unique and oddly compelling friendship in this epistolary debut. Ollie has a form of epilepsy that renders him "allergic to electricity," while Moritz, born without eyes, has a pacemaker to help control his cardiomyopathy. Both boys live in reclusive isolation, but when they begin to exchange letters, they find an unexpected opportunity to share their hopes, challenges, sorrows, and the tragic secrets that unite them. Ollie and Moritz are memorable characters with engaging and often humorous voices, and the dual narration creates tension as they reveal more of their lives to one another-including their struggles with loneliness, self-acceptance, brutal tormentors, first love, and the weight of the past. The story flirts with several genres before settling into science fiction by its close. Coupled with the questionable reliability of its narrators, this lends it a quirky, almost whimsical feel even as Thomas grounds it in heartfelt and often painful emotion. VERDICT Despite shades of melodrama and a few plot contrivances, this will intrigue readers with its unusual premise.-Lauren Strohecker, McKinley Elementary School, Abington School District, PA © Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Ollie, 14, lives sequestered with his mother in an A-frame house in the woods of northern Michigan. He can see the colors and shapes of the electricity to which he is allergic. Moritz, a 16-year-old who lives in Germany, has no eyes but can see through superecholocation. He also requires a pacemaker, which means he and Ollie can never meet. Ollie lives in an overprotected world, while Moritz goes to school and is bullied. Both boys need a friend, and through a pen pal relationship, they find the strength to go on. Their disparate lives open up worlds the other can't imagine, yet they share a dark common secret. Thomas' debut novel tells the stories of these two characters through alternating letters. The solitude and blank-page potential inherent to letter writing foster the ability to examine oneself in a way no other means of communication allows. Although it may be considered sci-fi, the humanness of the boys comes across as nothing short of real.--Fredriksen, Jeanne Copyright 2015 Booklist

Horn Book Review

A doctor sets up a pen-pal correspondence between Ollie and Moritz, two boys with severe medical conditions that make them, in Ollies words, fellow hermits. But if that brings them together as allies, it will keep them apart in real life -- Ollie, an American, is allergic to electricity and has spent his life in a cabin in the woods (even being near a power line can induce a seizure). Moritz, in Germany, was born without eyes and has a pacemaker. In exuberant (Ollie) and heart-wrenching (Moritz) letters, the boys tell each other about the parts of life the other misses out on. Burbling beneath the surface of this realistic fiction novel about the complexities of friendship and alienation, though, is something more speculative. Ollies epilepsy verges on the supernatural -- he doesnt just react badly to electricity; superhero-like, he repels it, due to an electromagnetic power in his own body. And Moritz compensates for his blindness with echolocation. As each boy nears the height of desperation with the limitations of his respective condition, they also discover that their abilities may be manmade and that their connection with each other began earlier than their correspondence. Readers can take or leave the science-fiction elements; its the distinct, deeply memorable voices of Ollie and Moritz that make this novel an affecting page-turner. sarah hannah gmez (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

Opposites attractand repelin Thomas' epistolary debut novel. Ollie sees his new German pen pal, Moritz, as a potential lifeline. Ollie's allergy to electricity has exiled him and his mother to a cabin in the Michigan woods with little company besides Auburn-Stache, his unconventional doctor, and Liz, a girl who brings him news from the world of TVs and humidifiers. Buzzing with awkward wisecracks and restless energy, he draws the aloof, sardonic Moritz into conversation. Rescued from a lab, Moritz requires a pacemaker and lacks eyes, but he insists he isn't blind; he can acutely sense his surroundings by clicking his tongue. Unfortunately, superecholocation and sarcasm don't help him fight a bully or approach Owen, the boy who treats him like a human. Ollie and Moritz need each other, even if they won't admit it. Isolation and the intimacy afforded by distance sharply focus the characters' developments; their personalities take shape quickly, and their relationship deepens as they play off each other's anecdotes and insults. The humorous and increasingly emotional exchanges create cliffhangers, culminating in occasionally disturbing revelations about the boys' origins. Their link is heavily foreshadowed, while other plotlines remain open enough to give the ending a sense of anticipation as well as satisfaction. A witty, unusual take on friendship and parlaying weakness into power. (Fiction. 14 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.