I Have Lost My Way

Gr 9 Up—Freya, Nathaniel, and Harun meet by accident—literally, when Harun sees Freya fall off a pedestrian bridge in Central Park onto Nathaniel—and the three of them end up spending a day together that changes all of their lives. Harun is starstruck; Freya is his ex-boyfriend's favorite singer, and he can't help but think that James will want to get back together if he sees Harun with Freya, even though Harun is reluctant to come out to his traditional Muslim family. Nathaniel has just arrived in town, mentioning vague plans of meeting his father uptown when pressed, and Freya is avoiding a meeting with the executive who she's sure is about to fire her for having lost her ability to sing. A trip to urgent care leads to lunch and further adventures around the city, and the trio's nascent friendship gives each character the strength to confront the truth about their families and themselves. Taking place over the course of a single day, Forman's latest features sympathetic, believable characters and adeptly addresses a remarkable array of subjects: sibling rivalry, sexual identity, mental illness, the weight of familial expectations, and suicidal ideation among them.