Last Chance Dance

Starred review from January 9, 2023
Wilson (Be Real, Macy Weaver) showcases an expert sense of comedic timing and an emphatic understanding of contemporary adolescent trials in this sparkling rom-com. For all four years of high school, Maryland native Leila Bean has enjoyed “relationship perfection” with boyfriend Dev Rajan—until he abruptly dumps her three weeks before graduation. Determined to distract her from her misery, Leila’s best friend insists that Leila participate in her school’s upcoming Last Chance Dance. The event pairs consenting students with three former crushes and one wild card match generated by a computer; at the end of a trial period, the participants are expected to ask one of their matches to the dance. When Leila’s dates with her first three choices don’t pan out, her last option is the wild card pick: class clown Tre’, whom she’s despised since he publicly humiliated her during sophomore year. Leila’s struggles with self-worth following her breakup and anxiety around learning to trust Tre’ despite their unfriendly past are brilliantly rendered via snappy dialogue, and the large, three-dimensional cast adds another layer of energy to this optimistic tale of heartache and rediscovery. Most characters are Black; Dev is Indian cued. Ages 12–up.

March 1, 2023

Gr 7 Up-Smarting from her parents' divorce in eighth grade, Leila Bean thinks it must be fate when she meets cute Dev Rajan while shopping for schools supplies the summer before freshman year. Then after four years as their high school's most unproblematic couple, Leila is devastated when Dev decides to break up with her just before graduation, instead of taking their relationship long-distance during college. Hurting from the breakup and the confusion of being out of a committed relationship for essentially the first time, Leila is devastated that this will be her biggest memory from high school. Then best friend Bree reminds Leila that the school's Last Chance Dance is coming up, giving Leila a chance to match with three unrequited crushes (if the interest is mutual) and one algorithm-chosen wild card. No one is more surprised than Leila when she's matched with all of her crushes and her longtime nemesis. Going on dates with athletic Kai, activist Mason, and bookstagrammer Eva is fun, but the biggest surprise for Leila is that class clown Tre' (orchestrator of her biggest humiliation in eighth grade and possibly her entire life) might be an actual contender for a date and maybe even more. Leila and most of the characters in her Maryland school are Black; characters fall across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, including bisexual Eva and "masculine-presenting lesbian" Bree. VERDICT Wilson's breezy narrative and the inventive Last Chance Dance premise make a winning combination in this romance where Leila learns how to trust again while figuring out how to define herself outside of her relationship status.-Emma Carbone

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 15, 2022
A senior tries to get over an unexpected breakup by participating in her high school's end-of-school dance for unfulfilled crushes. With only three weeks left before graduation, Leila Bean is shattered when Dev Rajan, her boyfriend since freshman year, suddenly dumps her despite their previous plans to keep dating in college. Bree, Leila's best friend, encourages her to sign up for Baldwin High's Last Chance Dance, which matches seniors with up to three former crushes they never dated--if the interest is reciprocated--so they can decide whom to ask to their final dance. Leila, a Black bisexual girl, is surprised when she's set up with all three of her picks: super fit social media influencer Kai, charismatic activist Mason, and beautiful book-loving Eva. There's also an unwelcome, algorithm-chosen wild-card match: her snarky lab partner and nemesis, Tre'. Leila agrees to give each of her matches a chance except for Tre', who she initially refuses to believe is a serious contender--until she realizes he's more than just a class clown. Wilson's part breakup tale, part rom-com isn't just about falling in and out of love; it's also a story about Leila's rediscovering herself in the face of loss, learning from her mistakes, and giving people a chance to redeem themselves. Set in Prince George's County, Maryland, a prosperous, predominantly Black suburb of Washington, D.C., the story mostly centers Black characters; Dev is Indian American, and Mason is White. A charming and hopeful story about life post-heartbreak. (Fiction. 12-18)

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