The Handsome Girl & Her Beautiful Boy

Starred review from March 12, 2018
All their classmates think that Zee is a lesbian and Art is gay. However, Zee likes boys, and Art likes girls (at least, they are pretty sure). Soon after meeting, they fall for each other. In his third novel, Gottfred (Forever for a Year) creates characters and hilarious dialogue reminiscent of E. Lockhart’s Ruby Oliver books; as in his other titles, his sex scenes are detailed, wonderfully honest, and not a bit gratuitous. With outspoken sincerity, Zee describes her grief over her mother and her heartfelt questions about life—her newfound father, her sexuality, her best friend (and crush) Cam, and of course, Art. Equally captivating are Art’s exhilarating, wildly emotional chapters, which include playful Venn diagrams (“Art Charts”). In this big-hearted novel, Gottfred explores the fluidity of gender and sexuality, including questions about what makes a person straight, gay, or bisexual; the confusion that liking both girls and boys can provoke in a teen; and the many nuances of attraction. Ages 17–up. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary.

April 1, 2018

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. VERDICT An additional purchase.-Hillary St. George, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2018
Two teens--one girl, one boy--defy gender norms to discover their own brand of love.When they meet, laid-back Zee and self-professed "biggest personality on the planet" Art are both sure they're straight despite others' assumptions that they're gay because of how they present themselves. It's infatuation at first sight for Art, who is certain that fellow "mythical creature" Zee will fall for him. Amid tumultuous family circumstances--Zee meets her estranged father after her mother dies of cancer, while Art's parents' marriage falls apart--the duo explores their confusing attraction to each other and what it means for their senses of self. This exploration includes sex (masturbation, blow jobs, nights in a motel room, and relationship drama involving other characters). The book's strength lies in its first-person narration, which alternates between Zee and Art in uber-short chapters full of all-caps, exclamation points, and explanatory pie charts. The ultimate affirmation that love needs no labels or boundaries comes far too late for a story about sexual fluidity; throughout most of the book, Zee and Art subscribe to strongly binary views of gender, sexuality, and gender expression. Art and all other primary characters are presumably white. Zee, jarringly for the daughter of an Iranian father and a very light-skinned white mother, is described as having a very dark complexion.Suitable for fans of nonmainstream romances with larger-than-life characters. (Fiction. 16-18)

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April 15, 2018
Grades 9-12 When Art and Zee meet, it's love at first sight. At least Art believes so. Zee isn't so convinced. What they agree on is that their home lives are in free fall. Zee's mother is wasting away from cancer, and Art's jobless father is suffering an emotional breakdown. What starts out as friendly companionship transforms into something neither teen is sure of. Others around them have pegged them as outsiders?gay, lesbian, weird, standoffish?but they decide to renounce those labels and embrace whatever it is they have together. Are their combined powers a match for the challenges life has for them? Like Art and Zee themselves, Gottfred's book is hard to pin down. It is a heartfelt look at an atypical friendship between atypical people, told from both characters' points of view. It is an honest book about confused teens discovering who and how to love. Most of all, this book is a gentle yet insistent call to refuse the spaces others try to place you in, to break out of the preconceived and exist in the unknown.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)