A couple of weeks ago I attended an SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) conference. Part of my reason for attending was to earn credit toward my continuing teaching certification, and part was the YA fantasy romance book that's been kicking around in my head for a few years.
Anyway, one of the featured authors was Lisa Papademetriou, a middle grades/YA writer. There was a bookstore table outside the main meeting rooms, and I found myself gravitating to one of her books in particular.
I read it a couple of days ago and I'm so glad I did! It's actually a team-written book, with Chris Tebbets, and the two of them did a fabulous job creating a fun, frothy, sweetly emotional book about navigating the treacherous waters of high school romance.
Did I mention that one of the main characters is gay? Yeah, add even more turbulence to those waters. But it's not a coming out story. Marcus is already (mostly) out of the closet, and his friends and family accept him for who he is. No, that's not the issue.
The problem is, he's developing a crush on the boy his best (female) friend wants to date. And he's starting to think Jeffrey likes him, too.
Add in alternating first person chapters, where we see events from both Marcus's and Frannie's perspectives, fun secondary characters, and a humorous twist on Cyrano de Bergerac featuring an online chat room, and you've got a recipe for a fun, happy book.
I keep saying fun, don't I? Sorry, but it really is the best word to describe this book. I highly recommend it. So why not head on over to to the nearest bookstore and Buy It Now?
2 comments:
This sounds like my kind of YA. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the tip!
I thought of you while I was reading it. You'll love it!
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