Biggest Flirts

Gr 9 Up—Tia's sisters definitely influenced her ideas about love. They fell in love and then, when things went wrong, they found themselves in bad situations. Drum captain Tia is determined not to repeat their mistakes. She keeps guys at arm's length: just close enough for a good hookup but far enough away that love isn't a possibility. When her newest hookup, Will, turns out to be a guy who is her equal in the drumline and in wits, though, she finds it hard to stop thinking about him. And she serves as an excellent distraction to the chaos that Will's life has become, since being uprooted just before his senior year. Though a simple story about a girl and a guy, it highlights how one's past experiences and expectations may make it hard to accept happiness. There is a pretty intense makeout scene fairly early on, which might give the impression that the book will be filled with such scenes, but this is not the case. The author's characters are more memorable than those in her Major Crush (S. & S., 2006), and her depiction of high school life is entertaining and engaging. While this may be just a summer beach read, it's a fun one.—Kelly Jo Lasher, Middle Township High School, Cape May Court House, NJ