Summer Unscripted

June 19, 2017
Rainie Langdon—a theater newbie and somewhat listless high school junior—begs her former best friend Ella to help her get a job as an actor-tech at a summer stock theater so Rainie can stay close to Tuck, the boy she has a crush on. Once the girls arrive at the theater, Rainie discovers that Tuck’s costar is also his girlfriend; soon, she loses interest in the job, feels terribly out of place, and wants to go home. After the arrival of Milo, Ella’s ex, Rainie finds a new reason to stay, though she’s reluctant to admit it, and Ella disapproves. Klein (Shuffle, Repeat) follows a familiar path in her story of romantic entanglements; preparations for and performances of the show provide backdrops for mild friendship and relationship upheaval, as two boys vie for Rainie’s heart and she discovers that the stage may be right for her after all. This is a bright and breezy romance, and watching Rainie fall for Milo and the theater should please the drama crowd. Ages 12–up. Agent: Lisa Gallagher, DeFiore & Company.

April 15, 2017
Teen love drama goes to summer stock.Rainie Langdon's friends know where their lives are headed, but the white girl's own life is directionless. She has no goals, no follow-through. Enter "#nofilter-perfect" blond, blue-eyed white boy Tuck Brady. Tuck's theater-class monologue about being adrift on the sea of life speaks to Rainie. Lightning strike! She's found her passion, her purpose: Tuck. His attention to Rainie, nonexistent until now, is borderline creepy, but she wants him. Rainie convinces her former bestie, Ella Reynolds, also white, to pull some family strings so she can follow Tuck to summer stock. Upon finding out Tuck has a girlfriend, Rainie tries to bail, but frenemy Ella blackmails her into staying. Tuck is definitely interested in her, but he needs to remain faithful for the summer, and Rainie is fine being on hold until school starts. Enter boy No. 2: sexy, Mexican-American photographer Milo Cabrera. He's available now and seems interested in Rainie, but he's also Ella's ex, which could mean more tension in the girls' tenuous friendship. Does Rainie want to give up the ghost and pursue him instead? This rom-com follows a familiar, undemanding path. Though Klein plants several instances of metafictive irony about girls who care what boys think, Rainie is so single-minded it's hard to tell whether this is intentionally tongue-in-cheek or coincidence. Another romance about a girl who needs a boy to find her way. (Fiction. 12-16)

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April 1, 2017
Gr 8 Up-High school junior Rainie Langdon has a -finishing- problem-she never finishes anything. She flits from activity to activity until dreamy Tuck performs a monologue that expresses Rainie's sense of aimlessness perfectly. Rainie enlists Ella, her ex-best friend, to help her follow Tuck to a summer theater program in Greece, where Rainie can make Tuck fall for her. By tracking Rainie's budding self-awareness, Klein breathes new life into the classic story of a girl chasing the wrong boy, all the while unaware that the right one has been there all along. Miscues, misdirection, and unspoken desire create the tension that drives the narrative forward. The great hidden romantic truth will be evident long before the very public reveal, but the laugh-out-loud dialogue and Greek mythology-based comedic stage antics, including slapstick scenes, paired with the subplot of the maturing friendship between Rainie and Ella, will deeply satisfy readers. While there is no cathartic moment of self-discovery for the protagonist, she does complete the summer program and find the right partner to support her. She begins senior year with a better understanding of her strengths and an open mind, empowered to rely on her own talents and interests and less concerned with what others might think of her. The book contains mature themes such as underage drinking. VERDICT Recommended for teens who appreciate campy summer romances with a comedic Greek thespian backdrop. Purchase where the works of Jenny Han or Sarah Dessen are popular.-Eva Thaler-Sroussi, Glencoe Public Library, IL

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2017
Grades 7-10 Awestruck by an inspirational monologue delivered in her high-school auditorium by a good-looking classmate she barely knows, Rainie is suddenly smitten, confident beyond all reason that Tuck Brady gets me. Though her interest in the dramatic arts hovers around zero, and her stage fright is off the charts, she pursues Tuck to the mountains of North Carolina, taking a job in an outdoor summer theater production where Tuck plays the lead. Complications arise, including Rainie's shifting view of Tuck, her on-again/off-again friendship with Elly (her former best friend and summer roommate), and her increasingly romantic feelings for Milo, Elly's ex. Readers will find plenty to like in Rainie, a well-drawn protagonist who struggles to figure out where other people are coming from and what she wants for herself. Predictably, the real drama happens offstage, though there are some memorable, occasionally amusing moments under the lights as well. Klein, whose novel Shuffle, Repeat (2016) also dealt with high-school romance, delivers an enjoyable summer read with a distinctive setting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)