Althea & Oliver: A Novel by Cristina Moracho. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2014. ISBN 9780670785391.

Summary

As children, new friends Althea and Oliver spent their first evening together playing Candy Land. Ten inseparable years later, having cycled through board games, card games, and games of their own inventions, they have become the kind of best friends who are often mistaken for twins. After an evening of Non-Stop Party Wagon, Oliver’s game of saying ‘yes’ to everything new that presents itself, they find themselves in unfamiliar romantic territory. Althea grows increasingly aware of her romantic love for Oliver just as he develops a sudden sleeping disorder, the first bout of which causes him to sleep for three straight weeks. Oliver’s diagnosis of Kleine-Levin Syndrome, a rare but real affliction, pulls him away from Althea as he is repeatedly drawn into long periods of slumber followed by a departure of his usual character and mood. Struggling with Oliver’s absence at the height of her attraction to him, Althea makes a bad, unalterable choice, and the ramifications separate them further.