Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Much to her friend Lila’s dismay, Taryn hasn’t shown much interest in meeting boys, at least until she runs in a totally hot guy while she’s out walking her dog. Epp’s gaze is electric, and Taryn is hopelessly hooked, even though the first thing she learns about him is that he’s the boyfriend of a girl she’s known since first grade. With Lila’s encouragement, Taryn schemes to get closer to Epp, inventing a journalism assignment so she can interview him, and double-dating with him and Isabelle. The inevitable problems ensue when she stops spending time with Lila in favor of the pretty and popular Isabelle, and she realizes that the guy she’s using to get close to Epp is too nice to be handled that way. Moreover, she finds that Isabelle is really nice as well, which is a bit harder to believe and seems more like a spank than a genuine plot development. Epp, on the other hand, is an unrepentant flirt, but the stars in Taryn’s eyes never fade enough for her to make that judgment, even if readers will. The plot is unidimensional and rather thin, so readers looking for a fully developed story of a love triangle will be better off with Koja’s Kissing the Bee (BCCB 11/07). The book will be accessible to less able readers, however, and Taryn’s manipulations will pose compelling moral challenges for young adults just starting to work out their own ideas about what matters in relationships; this may therefore prove a useful stepping stone for those working their way up to chunkier and more nuanced teen romances. [End Page 120]