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We Contain Multitudes cover art

We Contain Multitudes

Written by: Sarah Henstra
Narrated by: Matthew Gouveia, Tony Kim
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Publisher's Summary

An exhilarating and emotional LGBTQ story about the growing relationship between two teen boys, told through the letters written to one another. For fans of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and I’ll Give You the Sun.

Thrown together by a zealous English teacher's classroom-mailbox assignment, notorious scrapper, Adam "Kurl" Kurlansky, and Jonathan Hopkirk, a flamboyant Walt Whitman wannabe, have to write an old-fashioned letter to each other every week.

Kurl is a senior, an ex-high school football player, held back a year, while Jo is a nerdy, out tenth grader with a penchant for vintage clothes and a deep love for poetry. They are an unlikely pair, but with each letter, the two begin to develop a friendship that grows into love. But with homophobia, bullying, and familial abuse, Jonathan and Kurl must struggle to overcome their conflicts and hold onto their relationship, and each other.

©2019 Sarah Henstra (P)2019 Penguin Teen

What the critics say

One of BookRiot’s 25 Awesome 2019 Queer YA Books to Preorder Right Now

One of CBC’s 29 Canadian Kids Books & YA to Look For in Spring 2019

"This exploration of self and sexuality is sure to be quickly embraced by fans of Love, Simon, They Both Die at the End and The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue.” (Siân Gaetano, Shelf Awareness, editor [Children's and YA])

"The title of this book is incredibly fitting. Jonathan and Kurl are two complex and fascinating characters, and they instantly drew me into the world created by their letters and their love. It's an astonishing romance and character study that also happens to be full of gorgeous writing." (Robin Talley, author of Lies We Tell Ourselves and Pulp)

“This is an absolutely extraordinary work of fiction that proves the epistolary novel is an art form. Kurl and Jo are characters to die for, emotionally compelling and empathetic.... [This novel] is not to be missed.” (Booklist, starred review)

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my heart

this was so wonderful, it hurt my heart with cuteness and with pain.
its presentation as letters the entire time was very interesting as well, made it feel like it was going by very fast

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Clever and Poetic

While the level of trauma/angst was higher than I usually prefer to read, this story had so many other positive attributes that I can only give it 5 stars. Despite the use of the trope of high school jock + art/poetry nerd, the author’s remarkable depth with these characters lifted them far past the usual into believable, broken, and lovable territory. I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy the letter writing structure, but the two voice narrative worked largely well. A very worthwhile read, and I’d gladly pick up a sequel.

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interesting book

I really enjoyed the story and the concept was really cool. There were some scenes where they were both present and they are writing to each other explaining in detail what happened that felt a little unnatural and may have been better served by simply being directly present in the scene rather than through the letters. Overall though I found the story great!

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Beautifully written!

Very unique back and forth narrative that I was a little worried about at first, but got completely absorbed in rather quickly. The characters all had a lot of dimensions and the book was enthralling the entire way through. The voice actors did a fantastic job. 10/10 all around.

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Performances

I've read this book before and really liked it. But the guy who voices Jonathan makes me want to bash my head against a wall. Adam sounds fine, the only issue is the other one. Would recommend the physical book - not the audiobook.

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