As natural disasters begin to befall them the closer they become, Milo and Marcos soon begin to wonder if the universe itself is plotting against them in this young adult debut by the playwright and creator of The Two Princes podcast, Kevin Christopher Snipes.  Milo Connolly has managed to survive most of high school without any major disasters, so by his calculations, he’s well past due for some sort of Epic Teenage Catastrophe. Even so, all he wants his senior year is to fly under the radar. Everything is going exactly as planned until the dreamy and charismatic Marcos Price saunters back into his life after a three-year absence and turns his world upside down. Suddenly Milo is forced to confront the long-buried feelings that he’s kept hidden not only from himself but also from his deeply religious parents and community. To make matters worse, strange things have been happening around his sleepy Florida town ever since Marcos’s return—sinkholes, blackouts, hailstorms. Mother Nature is out of control, and the closer Milo and Marcos get, the more disasters seem to befall them. In fact, as more and more bizarre occurrences pile up, Milo and Marcos find themselves faced with the unthinkable: Is there a larger, unseen force at play, trying to keep them apart? And if so, is their love worth risking the end of the world? Gr 7 Up-When Presbyterian teen Milo went to church camp three years ago with his best friend Van, he encountered the only stumbling block he has experienced in his faith: an unexpected crush on his aggressively atheist roommate, Marcos. Milo's years of successfully avoiding confronting his sexuality come to an end when Marcos moves to town, and it becomes clear that Milo's crush has not only persisted but is reciprocated. The two boys tentatively embark on a relationship, but each milestone is marked by a bizarre natural disaster that leaves Milo increasingly certain that his faith and sexuality can only exist in opposition to each other. His internalized homophobia, combined with anxiety about what this means for his faith, is matched with realistic fears of how his parents will react to learning their son is dating another boy. Although the central plot revolves around the conflict between faith and identity, religion is not portrayed as inherently negative, and the book notably does not end with Milo renouncing either his religion or his relationship with Marcos. Instead, readers are left with the promise that Milo, Marcos, and their families have started down a path that can incorporate all aspects of their identities. VERDICT A strong secondary purchase for school and public libraries where queer books are popular.-Austin Ferraroα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. "Queer teens who value their faith may find solace in Milo’s story, as he grows into himself and accepts his sexuality in tandem with his religious beliefs." - Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books "A funny, sweet, and emotional navigation of faith and queerness." - Kirkus Reviews "A love story for the end of the world." - Mason Deaver, award-winning author of I Wish You All the Best and The Ghosts We Keep “Wickedly funny and achingly honest, this queer love story moves heaven and earth—literally”  - Jasper Sanchez, author of The (Un)Popular Vote “Milo will win your heart as he risks incurring the literal wrath of God—and losing everything in the process—in order to own his identity and love himself as he is.” - Misa Sugiura, author of Love & Other Natural Disasters "Snipes is somehow both a harbinger of doom and a herald of love and I am completely here for it! If the apocalypse ever does happen, I'm going to want a copy of this book with me!"  - Jason June, author of Jay's Gay Agenda and Out of the Blue “An absolute diamond of a debut! It humorously captures how queer boys falling in love for the first time can feel beautiful, strange, and literally earth-shattering all at once.”  - Adam Sass, award-winning author of Surrender Your Sons "Snipes thoughtfully captures Milo’s internal turmoil on his journey to self-acceptance, and the teens’ willingness to explore their relationship amid calamity offers an engaging image of headlong first love." - Publishers Weekly "Fans of the author’s podcast, The Two Princes , and those looking for a meaningful queer love story will delight in this high-stakes, energetically paced senior-year tale." - Booklist Kevin Christopher Snipes  is a New York–based writer who was born and raised in Florida. He spent his early career in the theater writing plays, including A Bitter Taste  and The Chimes . Later, for Gimlet Media/Spotify, he created the queer fantasy podcast  The Two Princes . His children’s poetry and short fiction have been published internationally, and his debut novel, Milo and Marcos at the End of the World , was an official selection of the NEA’s Read Across America progr