Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Bethany Greene has a reputation for three things: being great at basketball, making epic sandwiches, and crying at the drop of a hat. When she decides she's ready to outgrow "Crybaby Bethany" and ask a boy to homecoming, she ends up getting rejected. Twice. Meanwhile, Jacob Yeun's known mostly for making amazing TikToks and for getting dumped by two different girls after only two weeks of dating. Bethany and Jacob both have reputations they want to ditch, so the two hatch a plan; they'll date each other, proving they're both desirable while gaining some practical relationship experience, and then mutually break up at an agreed upon time. Of course, Bethany and Jacob almost immediately start catching feelings for each other, but they are both too afraid to do anything other than stick to the plan. Funny, confident, body-positive Bethany is a stellar role model for fat teens and teens of color everywhere, and the two leads have effortless chemistry in this YA debut from accomplished adult romance author Weatherspoon. Bethany and Jacob are surrounded by a highly developed, diverse supporting cast of many friends and family that, while occasionally overwhelming, helps to populate the high [End Page 310] school setting and make the world feel full and lived in. Weatherspoon's romance expertise shows as the main couple's sweet and supportive relationship is organically developed, and readers will easily see why these two belong together. Although this group of teens is a little too mature and drama-free to be believable, they model healthy behaviors for teen readers in a cute, buoyant high school romance package perfect for fans of Maurene Goo.