Leap Day »

Wendy Mass is the author of A Mango-Shaped Space. She wanted to be an astronaut but decided her carsickness was not a good trait for that career, so she became a writer instead and hasn't looked back since. Leap Day is her second novel.

This fascinating, surprising new novel is full of everyday imaginations and truths in the life and future of every teenage girl, as it tells the story of soon-to-be-16 Josie Taylor, who was born on Leap Day.

Kirkus

Josie's 16th birthday is also her fourth birthday: she is a "leaper," born on February 29th, and she revels in the quadrennial recurrence of her natal day. This offering's action occurs entirely on Leap Day, advancing in timed increments over the course of the day, each chapter divided into two narratives. Leading off each chapter is Josie's breezily ingenuous first-person account, which reflects the monumental narcissism of adolescents. The "B" side of each chapter relates events as they run concurrent with Josie's own account, but in a roving third-person narration that illuminates the characters around Josie. Both very little and a great deal happen in this recounting: Josie turns 16 and tries out for a play-and her father finds his life's calling, and a classmate gives birth. It's a fairly risky construction: Josie is agreeable enough, but aside from her birthday, she's not particularly interesting; it's the other stories that swirl around Josie's that give both the story, and ultimately even Josie herself as she becomes aware of them, real depth. (Fiction. 12+)