April 15, 2016
What happens when your intriguing pen pal and the thorn in your side are the same person?An aspiring songwriter, Lily is always jotting down ideas for songs--even in chemistry class. One day, she ends up writing the lyrics to one of her favorites on her desk. The next day, she sees that someone has responded to her, and as might be expected, a conversation in letters begins. Not only does the white teen start falling for her pen pal, but she finds that his revelations about his family fuel her songwriting. But then two different catastrophes strike: her guitar is damaged beyond repair, wrecking her chance of entering a songwriting contest, and Lily discovers the letter writer is preppy, white Cade Jennings, the guy she can't stand--the guy who stuck her with the nickname "Magnet," which persists two years later. Even with what she's learned about him from his letters, Lily can't get past her own immature reactions to Cade. Will her prejudices against Cade keep Lily from happiness? The answer is predictable but still satisfying. A perfectly pleasant novel, this work seems to want to be Pride and Prejudice lite.Readers after an enjoyable beach romance won't go wrong with this. (Romance. 12-16)
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June 1, 2016
Gr 7-10-Cade and Lily have been enemies for years: he's rude about her clothes, hair, and whole vibe; she thinks he's a snotty, stuck-up rich kid. Plus, she has her eye on shaggy hipster Lucas, who looks like he could totally be on her wavelength. But when Lily scribbles some graffiti on top of the desk to combat her boredom in chemistry class, she's surprised to find a reply the next day and even more surprised when the answers continue. Soon, she's corresponding through hidden notes and bonding with her secret pen pal over a mutual interest in indie music. Who's her mysterious new friend? Little by little, Lily whittles down the number of possibilities to one that makes absolutely no sense. Although it gets off to a slow start as the author sets up the various subplots, there's much to like about this sweet love story. West allows the sworn enemies to reexamine themselves in a believable way; Lily considers that the person she becomes around her nemesis Cade is not her best self-and that the same could possibly be true for Cade. There's plenty of kissing at the end, but nothing that renders this work unsuitable for middle school readers. VERDICT Hand this one to fans of tween romance and Jennifer E. Smith's books.-Elizabeth Friend, Wester Middle School, TX
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