It's Not Me, It's You

September 23, 2024
High school graduate Jackie works at Monte’s Magic Castle to save up for a road trip from N.Y. to California to drop her bestie off at film school. Her once manageable gig as a waitress is ruined when Jackie’s sworn enemy, assistant manager Wilson, demotes her to the low-paying and demeaning job of costumed party frog. Her only solace is hanging out with her older sisters Jillian and Julie and updating her blog, which she uses to “shitpost whatever thoughts come to my head.” When Jackie starts posting about her sisters’ relationship advice and she accidentally encourages Wilson’s girlfriend to dump him via letter, her blog goes viral. Jackie decides to use Wilson’s misery to her advantage and vows to help him win back his girlfriend in exchange for a promotion. But as the two work together, Jackie sees a new side of Wilson, igniting an undeniable spark. Though the push and pull of the love interests’ enemies-to-lovers dynamic
occasionally wears thin, their witty banter, written by Light (Meet Me in the Middle), endears in this sweet romance with underlying themes of self-discovery and enduring friendship. Main characters are white cued. Ages 13–up.

October 1, 2024
A new high school graduate in Ridgewood, New York, grapples with her future and her relationships. Eighteen-year-old Jackie has three goals for the summer: spend as much time as possible with best friend Suzy, earn enough to buy a used car for their long-anticipated cross-country road trip, and figure out what she should do next. What she didn't have planned was being demoted from waitressing to wearing a frog costume at work. Why was she sent to "amphibian jail"? Wilson, the annoyingly handsome new assistant manager at Monte's Magic Castle, where Jackie helps with kids' birthday parties, disciplined her for a minor infraction, thus becoming Jackie's "mortal enemy" whom she takes pride in annoying. As she tries to find herself, Jackie secretly draws on her older twin sisters' dating experiences to launch a social media account giving break-up advice; it quickly goes viral. But when she learns that her anonymous guidance has led Wilson's girlfriend, Kenzie, to break up with him, she guiltily tries to help him win her back. Jackie's summer soon becomes more complicated than she could have imagined. This novel told in Jackie's first-person perspective is a leisurely enemies-to-lovers story. The light tone is entertaining, and Jackie's growth is (refreshingly) not dependent on her male love interest; however, the dialogue feels flat and repetitive in places. Jackie and Wilson present white, Kenzie is cued Black, and Suzy is Korean and white. A breezy, if slow-paced, teen romance with a healthy dose of self-discovery.(Romance. 13-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2024
Grades 9-12 It's the summer before college, and Jackie Myers is floundering. Everyone around her has found their thing: her best friend is moving across the country, and her older sisters have successful careers. Jackie, on the other hand, is dressing up like a frog at the local pizza arcade, trying to save up for a car. To make things worse, Jackie's new boss is the utterly annoying Wilson, who demoted Jackie to frog in the first place. The only thing Jackie has is her blog, where she doles out breakup advice. When it turns out the blog has caused Wilson's girlfriend to break up with him, Jackie makes a deal to help Wilson win her back in return for her old job. While a great enemies-to-lovers romance ensues, the core of the novel is the bonds of sisterhood between Jackie and her siblings. They have a supportive relationship, and the banter, teasing, and affection are well-developed. Jackie's unsure adult path is also refreshing, offering to readers that you don't necessarily need life after high school sorted. A great romance, but an even better family story.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.