A Little Something Different

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