Amelia, If Only

Gr 8 Up–High school senior Amelia Applebaum came out to her friends and family as bisexual and yearns to have a true romantic relationship. Along with her best friends Natalie, Mark, and Zora, she has a disastrous prom after asking her parasocial crush, YouTube star Walter, to prom via an ill-advised Instagram post (with no reply) and then watches as Natalie gets dumped at the dance by her girlfriend, again. To cheer everyone up, Zora invites them on a visit to her girlfriend upstate at a college that is hosting a meet and greet with Walter. Cue the road trip playlist, which churns out Natalie’s favorite Simon & Garfunkel tunes while Amelia gets overexcited about meeting Walter but also notices her different feelings around Natalie. This story has everything readers have come to enjoy in an Albertalli book: a loyal and loving friend group, well-developed and engaging characters, an endearing romantic story, and guest turns from characters in her other books (this time from Imogen, Obviously). What it could use is more tension in the plot. Amelia fears the future, change, and difficult situations—issues which are hinted at but not really developed until halfway through. The social media asides that are used to fill in Walter’s story stall the pacing of the road trip and distract from the budding romance. But all in all, this is a fun romp with a main character who will win readers’ hearts with her humor and earnestness.