She Gets the Girl

She’s All That meets What If It’s Us in this New York Times bestselling hate-to-love YA romantic comedy from the coauthor of Five Feet Apart Rachael Lippincott and debut writer Alyson Derrick.\nAlex Blackwood is a little bit headstrong, with a dash of chaos and a whole lot of flirt. She knows how to get the girl. Keeping her on the other hand…not so much. Molly Parker has everything in her life totally in control, except for her complete awkwardness with just about anyone besides her mom. She knows she’s in love with the impossibly cool Cora Myers. She just…hasn’t actually talked to her yet.\nAlex and Molly don’t belong on the same planet, let alone the same college campus. But when Alex, fresh off a bad (but hopefully not permanent) breakup, discovers Molly’s hidden crush as their paths cross the night before classes start, they realize they might have a common interest after all. Because maybe if Alex volunteers to help Molly learn how to get her dream girl to fall for her, she can prove to her ex that she’s not a selfish flirt. That she’s ready for an actual commitment. And while Alex is the last person Molly would ever think she could trust, she can’t deny Alex knows what she’s doing with girls, unlike her.\nAs the two embark on their five-step plans to get their girls to fall for them, though, they both begin to wonder if maybe they’re the ones falling…for each other.\nFrom School Library Journal\nGr 9 Up—Alex and Molly, completely opposite strangers, both arrive for their freshman year of college with big plans to reinvent themselves. Alex is an independent social butterfly and serial flirt with a difficult family life and an ex-girlfriend she's desperate to get back. Molly is a wallflower who is extremely close with her mom but eager to individuate and newly determined to finally talk to the girl she's pined after for too long. After the two meet in class, Alex learns of Molly's crush and seizes the opportunity to become her relationship coach of sorts and help her land a date. Then of course, romantic comedy high jinks ensue. This sapphic rom-com is delightfully cheesy, fun, and extremely sweet. It also has its serious moments, meaningfully tackling tough topics such as cultural identity and the alcohol abuse of a parent. While the coauthored split perspectives are a little repetitive at times, LGBTQIA+ readers seeking to see themselves represented in fan-favorite rom-com tropes will still very much appreciate this one. Alex's race was not stated. Molly is biracial; her mom was adopted from Korea by a white American family and she and Molly both struggle internally with their Asian identities. VERDICT Recommended for all libraries.—Kayla Fontaine