Christa Comes Out of Her Shell

February 5, 2024
Waxman’s lighthearted latest (after Adult Assembly Required) follows a former child star turned reclusive scientist who’s thrust back into the spotlight when her naturalist father resurfaces after disappearing 25 years earlier. Jasper Liddle was presumed dead after his plane crashed in the Alaskan wilderness, and he returns now, having recovered from amnesia, to find his broadcast agent eager for him and his daughter, Christa, to accept all the media offers being thrown their way. As a preteen, Christa rose to fame after Jasper’s disappearance, appearing on TV talk shows with her mother to carry on her father’s legacy. She now studies snails on a remote island and hopes to keep it that way, having flamed out Lindsey Lohan–style (“Butterfly Babe Bares Buns in Beverly Hills,” went the headline of one article covering her arrest at 17 for disorderly conduct). Making matters even more complicated is Christa’s recent reconnection with childhood acquaintance Nathan Donovan, whom she now falls in love with. Meanwhile, garrulous Jasper details to reporters how he fell in love with the woman who cared for him after his crash, and attempts to win back Christa’s mother with mixed results. Christa’s romance subplot is too pedestrian for the amount of pages devoted to it, but Waxman churns up plenty of roiling family drama. Readers will relish this lively take on legacy and manipulation. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, CAA.

February 15, 2024
Christa Liddle prefers to be left alone to do her thing; in this case, studying snails on a small island in the Indian Ocean. But the discovery that her father, a scientist with a cultlike following, long thought to be dead, has been found in Alaska calls her home to her dysfunctional family. Christa wants only to return to her snails, but as more and more of her father's stories become untangled in the public eye, she begins to realize that hiding from her past may be something they have in common. Readers who find comfort in Waxman's likable nerds (as in The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, 2019) will enjoy smart and snarky Christa. Christa's mother and sisters add delightful color and humor as they make clear where Christa's personality originated, and Christa's second chance at romance with an old family friend feels natural and genuine and full of heat. A scene describing a sexual assault feels a little out of place in this otherwise warm story. Give to those who like their rom-coms with smart characters and messy lives.

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February 15, 2024
When her famous father returns from the dead, a prickly scientist's life is thrown into chaos. Christa Liddle was only a toddler when her father's plane crashed in the Alaskan wilderness. But his death was more than just a personal tragedy--it was also a global one, because Jasper Liddle was a famous conservationist and explorer with a television show and even a line of stuffed animals. Christa, her two sisters, and her mother eventually moved on after his presumed death, but Christa never fully recovered from being in the spotlight. As an adult, she spends her days researching snails on a remote island in the Indian Ocean, relishing her solitude and the lack of (human) company. That is, until her father turns out to be alive after all. Christa winds up back in her family home and surrounded by people with whom she has complicated relationships--and that includes Nate, a family friend who is now quite attractive and quite obviously into her. As Jasper goes on an apology and explanation tour that includes an appearance on Oprah, Christa has to decide if forgiveness is possible...and whether a return to civilization (and a life with companions other than snails) is in the cards for her. Waxman displays her usual talent for creating main characters who are wry and great with a one-liner. Although the plot could have been heavy, Waxman and her characters keep it light and focus on the humor of Jasper's misadventures. Christa is endearingly antisocial (as she says when explaining why she prefers the company of snails: "Humans talk so much and look at you expectantly, as if you'd been paying attention"), and it's satisfying to watch her come out of her shell as she accepts the chaos of her family and learns to make peace with the past. A fun novel that manages to blend romance, family drama, and animal facts.

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