The Upside of Unrequited

February 20, 2017
Molly Peskin-Suso is the opposite of sexually precocious: now 17, she’s had “twenty-six crushes and exactly zero kisses.” When love finds her more confident twin sister, Cassie, a fissure develops that Molly reads as the inevitable first step toward twin division, “the part where we turn from we to she and me.” Cassie tries to hook Molly up with a pal of new girlfriend Mina, but Molly is drawn to Reid, a co-worker who Mina describes, derogatorily, as “one of those Ren Faire guys. Season pass, full costume.” Albertalli’s follow-up to Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda features a diverse family (Molly’s mothers are different races and religions) living in Beltway Washington the year gay marriage is legalized. It’s as full of heart as Simon (Simon himself makes a cameo appearance) and is replete with humor and honestly drawn characters like Grandma Betty, who comments inappropriately about Molly’s weight and thinks all lesbians have short hair. The cheerful resolution has Molly finding her own path, concluding that, no matter how well-intentioned one’s wingman might be, you have to be your heart’s own goalie. Ages 14–up. Agent: Brooks Sherman, Bent Agency.

February 15, 2017
Tired of crushing with no kisses, 17-year-old Molly decides to take a chance on love.Molly has always felt inferior to her fraternal twin, Cassie: though both are white, Molly is brown-haired, brown-eyed, and fat in contrast to Cassie's blonde slenderness. But Molly doesn't hate her body--she's just afraid other people do. The combination of these feelings of inadequacy with ordinary teen awkwardness is a recipe for uneasy interactions with boys. Molly's 26 crushes have all been unrequited--but have they, really? When Cassie falls in love for the first time, and two eligible possibilities present themselves, Molly decides to risk rejection. Against the backdrop of the legalization of gay marriage in the U.S. and the planning of her moms' subsequent nuptials, Molly struggles between choosing the boy she actually likes and the one who seems ideal. Themes of body image, rejection, first love, and the evolution of familial relationships--particularly between sisters--loom large. Molly is the queen of teen angst, and her voice may grate on readers. The cast is wonderfully diverse (family, sexual orientation, religion/culture, race, size, mental health), which is why it's so sad that, though well-drawn, the characters are hard to connect with. While that's disappointing, fans of romance and those looking to diversify their shelves may be willing to forgive its foibles. (Fiction. 14-17)

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Starred review from February 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Growing up can mean growing apart, which is a hard revelation for twins Cassie and Molly Peskin-Suso. When Cassie, who is a lesbian, begins dating Mina, a pansexual Korean American, Molly feels a little cast aside. Molly, who has an anxiety disorder, has silently nursed 26 crushes and is working on finally risking the rejection she fears and starting to date. Cassie wants Molly to hook up with Mina's best friend, Will, but Molly might be more interested in sweet and endearingly geeky Reid. While the girls are navigating these new worlds of romance, things don't slow down in other parts of their lives. Cassie and Molly's moms are finally getting married, so there's a wedding to plan, much to the delight of Pinterest-savvy Molly; plus there are jobs, friends, and a busy baby brother. Molly, Cassie, and all of the secondary characters are well-developed and distinctive. The outspoken girls have honest, humorous, and sometimes awkward conversations with each other, their friends, and their supportive and loving moms about relationships and growing up. Albertalli's keen ear for authentic teen voices will instantly make readers feel that they are a part of Cassie and Molly's world, filled with rich diversity (Cassie and Molly's family is Jewish and interracial), love, support, and a little heartache. In the satisfying conclusion, Molly and Cassie learn that letting new people into their lives does not have to mean shutting out others.

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 Seventeen-year-old Molly has had 26, count 'em, 26 crushes and not one boyfriend. But wait, here comes number 27: sweet, adorable Reid. Could a relationship finally be in the offing? But what about flirtatious, hipster-cool Will? Doesn't he count? Love sure is complicated, and for Molly, this annoying fact of life is exacerbated by her anxiety, hypersensitivity, doubts, and even self-hatred. At least partially responsible for all this Sturm und Drang is the fact that Molly is, as her grandmother indelicately puts it, zaftig. As Molly herself exasperatedly thinks, chubby girls don't get boyfriends. But why shouldn't she have the same kind of loving relationship with a boy that her twin sister, Cassie, has with a girl? In her second, relationship-rich novel, Albertalli has done an excellent job of creating in Molly a sympathetic, if occasionally exasperating, character. And her take on the agonies and ecstasies of adolescent love are spot-on, as she demonstrates, once again, that the heart, indeed, has its reasons the mind cannot know.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)