You Know Me Well

April 4, 2016
Just because you live near San Francisco and there are other gay kids at school doesn’t mean that life is simple; as LaCour (Everything Leads to You) and Levithan (Two Boys Kissing) know, teenage life is never simple. It’s the start of Pride Week, and Katie feels like she has grown apart from her friends, and that meeting the girl she’s had a crush on forever is more than she can handle. Mark is at a gay bar competing in an underwear contest; he wins, but the victory emboldens Ryan, the friend Mark wishes were more, to dance with an attractive guy. When Katie bumps into Mark, they become a team as Mark imagines life without Ryan, Katie imagines it with Violet, and the future looms. There are a lot of emotional switchbacks packed into a single week, but the authors, writing in alternating chapters, incisively explore the excitement and costs of change, and the importance of friends in figuring out what to keep and what to jettison. Ages 13–up. Agent: (for LaCour) Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger; (for Levithan) Bill Clegg, Clegg Agency.

Mark and Kate meet during San Francisco's Pride Week and become instant friends. They're linked by concerns about coming out, and each is drawn to the other's fresh viewpoint. Matthew Brown and Emma Galvin's complementary readings give credence to the characterizations, especially the closeness of the two friends. Galvin depicts Kate's superficial self as secure and slightly sarcastic. But soon Kate's confidences with Mark reveal that she's masking indecision about committing to a girl she's loved from afar, owning her artistic skills, and overturning her sense of isolation. Brown also captures Mark's angst when he discovers that his best friend can't return the romantic feelings Mark has for him. Together, pondering Mark and fiery Kate nudge and support each other towards greater honesty. S.W. � AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine