Horn Book Review
It's Pride Week in San Francisco, and high school seniors (and co-narrators) Mark and Kate have much to figure out about themselves, including how out-and-proud they want to be. Mark hooks up sometimes with his best friend Ryan, but Ryan won't talk about it; Kate keeps running away from Violet, her best friend's cousin, who has always intrigued her as a love interest. Mark and Kate spot each other at a gay club and decide to be friends at a moment when each could use a confidante. They quickly become close and nudge each other toward bravery, romantic and otherwise, against the backdrop of other students' similar coming-of-age moments (after all, graduation approaches). It's a YA novel featuring funny and introspective teens with big decisions to make -- some related to their sexuality, some not. Kate, for instance, faces up to her lack of excitement about going to college, while Mark, pondering the question Who are you?, comes to the conclusion: "I am becoming." Teens, queer or straight, are often dramatic and unsure of themselves, and by moving its characters beyond the coming-out trope and giving them other questions to focus on, this book gives them room to be. shoshana flax (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In fair San Francisco where we lay our scene, a pair of star-cross'd classmates freaks out about life.All-American baseballer Mark is in love with his closeted best friend, Ryan. Kate pines for bon vivant Violet. Mark convinces Ryan to sneak to the Castro district for Pride Week festivities, thinking the shared adventure will surely make Ryan fall for him. Kate, too, is en route to San Francisco to finally meet Violet and commence romance. But Ryan falls for another suitor, and self-sabotaging Kate runs away from meeting Violet and ends up at the same bar. United by desperation, Mark and Kate embark on a magical night together (the truths of which are gradually revealed like romantic bread crumbs). Desperation, adoration, and confusion are confronted over several days as the outlooks of these two newfound friends evolve. The pacing and voices of LaCour's and Levithan's alternating points of view are on point, keeping this sweet fairy tale moving gladly forward. And it is a fairy tale, for the circumstances are implausible. Who talks like that? How could this duo possibly become friends? But it-gets-better optimism swells the story's spirit. Despite its delights, there are two notable missteps. Several mediocre poems obstruct pages at a poetry slam. And apart from a few minor characters, this is a vanilla middle-class world that white Mark and Kate inhabit.A once-upon-a-time reminder that life sucks and love stinksbut ain't they grand? (Fiction. 15 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
