''Emergency Contact'' is a 2018 young adult novel by Mary H.K. Choi. It is her debut novel and was published on March 27, 2018 by

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

, an imprint of

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

. ''Emergency Contact'' is a love story conducted primarily by

text message Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones, tablet computers, smartwatches, desktop computer, des ...

, with Penny, a Korean-American freshman at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, giving Sam her number after she happens to be passing by as Sam has his first panic attack.

Background

Choi described the novel as partly inspired by

Judy Blume Judith Blume (née Sussman; born February 12, 1938) is an American writer of children's, young adult, and adult fiction. Blume began writing in 1959 and has published more than 26 novels. Among her best-known works are '' Are You There God? It's ...

's novel '' Forever...'', because Blume had "said she just wanted to write a story about 'two people who have sex but then nothing terrible happens'...I love that," Choi told ''The New York Times''.

Publication

On October 4, 2017, an excerpt of the novel was published through ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

''. ''Emergency Contact'' was published in hardcover on March 27, 2018 by

, an imprint of

. A paperback edition was published on April 9, 2019 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. The novel debuted at number nine on ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' Young Adult Hardcover best-sellers list on April 22, 2018. It peaked at number eight on the list on May 6, 2018. It spent four weeks on the list.

Reception

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', in a

starred review A starred review is a book review marked with a star to denote a book of distinction or particularly high quality. A starred review can help to increase media coverage, bookstore placement and sales of a book. Outlets that published starred review ...

, praised Choi's "sharp wit and skillful character development". ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' criticized the novel's character development as well as its "absence of emotional depth or well-crafted prose". Writing for ''

'', David Canfield wrote that the novel "vividly realizes Korean-American culture and explores

microaggression Microaggression is a term used for commonplace verbal, behavioral or environmental slights, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward members of marginalized groups. The term was coine ...

s on a sharply recognizable level" and wrote that the young adult "frame doesn't push the more challenging material to the margins, but rather renders it naturalistically potent".

References

{{Reflist 2018 American novels 2018 debut novels American young adult novels Simon & Schuster books Novels set in Austin, Texas Campus novels University of Texas at Austin Novels by Mary H.K. Choi Third-person narrative novels