The Handsome Girl & Her Beautiful Boy

Gr 10 Up—Opposites attract when androgynous, athletic "Zee" meets her best friend's girlfriend's beautiful brother Art. Art is smitten but Zee pines for her best friend Cam. When Zee's mother dies from cancer, Cam is nowhere to be found. Instead, it's Art who Zee turns to for comfort over the summer. Their complicated relationship blossoms at the same time the teens contend with serious troubles at home: for Zee, it's the father she never knew and, for Art, his father's job loss and alcoholism. Meanwhile, they struggle with their personal identities, questioning what it means to be a masculine girl and a feminine boy. They wonder whether their nontraditional traits mean they might be gay/lesbian, as do many secondary characters who liken female masculinity and male femininity with being gay. When Zee and Art each reach out to relative strangers who afford them opportunities to explore same-sex attraction, they discover that maybe their sexualities and their relationship can't be confined to easy labels. The potential of the premise of two nonconforming teens finding each other is overshadowed by the repeated linking of nontraditional gender roles with homosexuality combined with the sudden and convenient same-sex exploration late in the story. The result is a one-dimensional contemplation on stereotypical gender roles and sexuality that lacks a sense of thoughtfulness on a sensitive topic, even within the fun, provocative tone the author aims for. Also, a female coach, an adult character in a position of authority, calls a teen by a highly sexualized nickname, which is never fully addressed.