A Little Something Different

September 8, 2014
Hall debuts with an ambitious but contrived romance, overstuffed with the perspectives of 14 characters, who all hope that college freshman Lea and junior Gabe will become a couple. The novelâthe first title from this crowdsourced YA romance imprintâflits so quickly between characters that it's hard to be persuaded by Lea and Gabe's chemistry. Lea's daring roommate, Maribel, witnesses her "meet cute" with Gabe. Inga is Gabe and Lea's creative writing professor, who "plays Cupid" each semester. Victor is an angry classmate who thinks Lea and Gabe would be less annoying if they would just start dating. A Starbucks barista, a campus bench, and even a squirrel all have their reasons for rooting for these two, but Lea and Gabe's awkward, shy encounters consist mainly of small talk, misunderstandings, and covert glances; other obstacles include another girl's attempts at snagging Gabe and Lea's friend's belief that Gabe is gay. Readers may be more interested to discover why Gabe missed school last semester and lost his scholarship than in the inevitable happy ending. Ages 12âup.

August 1, 2014
Hall's debut is the inaugural release from Swoon Reads, a crowdsourced imprint of Macmillan. Lea likes Gabe, and Gabe likes Lea, and everyone, including their matchmaking creative-writing professor, a bench on the green and a campus squirrel, wants them to be together. Sounds like a simple love story, but with 14 points of view, it's anything but. Rather than a little something different, readers are handed a confusing train wreck populated by one-dimensional characters and indistinguishable voices (save the acorn-loving squirrel). Although the narrator of each section is clearly marked, change from one viewpoint to the next knocks readers clear off the page, and disappointingly, none of the dozen-plus voices are those of the would-be lovebirds. Gabe is pathologically shy, but he comes off as pathetically broody, and Lea's wishy-washy attitude toward him is frustrating. The inclusion of several gay characters and the casual mention of Lea's Chinese heritage feel forced, and the normalizing use of the phrase "skank queen" to describe the girl her friends view as Lea's competition for Gabe's affection is unpleasant. It's not clear who the intended audience is, as the story is more playground drama than collegiate romance. Readers who live for fun and quirky love stories won't find one here. A little something puerile, amateurish and flat. (Romance. 15-19)

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August 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-If ever two people should get together, it's Gabe and Lea. They share a love of creative writing, watch the same TV reruns, order the same Chinese take-out on the same nights, and repeatedly wind up in the same place at the same time as if by magic. But Gabe is painfully shy and full of self-doubt, and Lea is so lacking in confidence that neither of them can give voice to the obvious chemistry that radiates between them. The magnetic pull is so strong, in fact, that everyone they come in contact with can feel it, and it is through Gabe and Lea's interactions with others that their stories unfold. In a progressive series of month-by-month vignettes, their creative writing teacher, college classmates, roommates and friends, a coffee shop barista, diner waitress, bus driver, and even the resident park bench and squirrel relate their impressions and conversations with the protagonists as they take part in a "one step forward, two steps back" dance of attraction and avoidance. Gabe's silence around Lea seems overplayed, but this is a small quibble with what is overall a fun, light romance that will appeal to male and female readers alike. A good choice for reluctant readers as well.-Cary Frostick, formerly at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2014
Grades 9-12 Start with one boy, one girl. Put them together in a fits-and-starts love story and tell it from 17 points of view, including those of friends, a teacher, a barista, and a squirrel. Lea and Gabe share a college creative writing class and live in the same dorm. Are they interested in each other? Very. Can everyone else around them see that they should be together? Uh-huh. But something seems to always keep them apart. It is awkwardness, yes, and shyness for sure, but just about the time the audience (and Lea) are ready to give Gabe up as inept with romance, they learn why he is having so much trouble. This is the first in Macmillan's Swoon Reads imprint, which allows new authors to submit their manuscripts online for readers' votes, and the winner will be published. This is a sprightly first offering, and while it does go on too longand Lea and Gabe seem more like high schoolers than college kidsthe multiple perspectives make for a clever hook. Romance with a twist.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)