Always Never Yours

March 26, 2018
Megan, who aspires to be a theater director, is focused on finishing her senior year and fulfilling the acting requirement she needs to get into the Southern Oregon Theater Institute. Her family life is in flux (her parents are divorced), and her best friend is dating her ex, Tyler. But then she’s cast as Juliet, opposite Tyler’s Romeo. Owen, a new boy with theater aspirations of his own, enters Megan’s life, and as their friendship grows she misses all the signals that Owen might be the love she didn’t know she wanted. Real-life romantic partners Wibberly (the Last Oracle series) and Siegemund-Broka (making his YA debut) collaborated in this theater-centered novel, with a predictable will-they/won’t-they romance at its core. As Megan spends the bulk of her time with yet another guy who’s wrong for her (Will), Owen is there in the wings. The coauthors wisely balance out the romance with family drama, and Megan’s commitment to a future life in the theater will please readers who share a similar love of Shakespeare and want a little romance to go with their drama. Ages 14–up. Agent: Katie Shea Boutillier, Donald Maass Literary Agency.

May 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-Megan Harper has always played a supporting character in her own life. Every boyfriend she has had has found a better match right after breaking up with her. It feels like she doesn't even belong in her own family lately; her father and stepmother are starting a new family and planning to move across the country once she graduates from high school. Megan has one true passion in life: directing theater productions. She is excited to hopefully attend a local theater program for college, but first she must get an acting credit. She hopes for a small role, but is surprised when she is cast as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, opposite her best friend's boyfriend who also happens to be Megan's most recent ex. When she falls for a stagehand named Will, she enlists the help of her new friend Owen Okita to land the new guy. It's Owen, however, who truly sees Megan for who she is. Megan is no wallflower and she doesn't subscribe to any conventions when it comes to romance and sex. She is a direct young woman who doesn't play games but also doesn't yet know what she really wants. The diverse cast includes a Japanese American love interest and a black, gay friend who struggles in a relationship with a boy who is still in the closet, in addition to the white female lead. VERDICT A delightful, light romance readers won't be able to put down.-Laura Gardner, Dartmouth Middle School, MA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2018
A young woman reluctantly cast as Juliet stumbles across her own real-life Romeo.Bold senior Megan Harper is known for directing student theater productions and being a self-proclaimed boy-crazy flirt. But Megan isn't ever "the one": Most of her seven ex-boyfriends have met their true loves right after leaving her--including Tyler, who is now with her accomplished best friend, Madeleine. Despite Megan's messy home life (she lives in Oregon with her dad, his pregnant wife, and their toddler, while her mom lives in Texas with her boyfriend), she has one post-graduation goal: attending a prestigious directing program. Because she needs one acting credit for her application, Megan auditions for the smallest role in her school's production of Romeo and Juliet--but ends up as the female lead opposite Tyler. The play offers the prospect of wooing Will, one of the stagehands, and, realizing he's friends with the new drama kid, Owen Okita, she cozies up to him in order to find out more about her latest crush, not realizing that her perfect match was right under her nose all along. Megan and Owen's flirty, whip-smart banter is irresistible, and it's refreshing to see a swoonworthy Asian male love interest. Owen is Japanese-American and Megan's best friend is a biracial (African-American and Mexican) boy; other major characters are white.Charming characters and an enchanting exploration of Shakespeare's romantic tragedy make this husband-and-wife duo's debut a must-read. (Fiction.14-18)

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