I Now Pronounce You Someone Else

May 31, 2010
Offering sharp wit and plenty of romantic interludes, first-time author McCahan captures the excitement and panic of a teenage girl on the fast track to becoming Mrs. Somebody. Seventeen-yearold Bronwen Oliver doesn't feel like she belongs in her family (she entertains escapist fantasies in which she discovers she was switched at birth and is really "Phoebe Lilywhite"). Her mother adores Bronwen's overachieving college-age brother, and neither of them like to talk about the past. When an old acquaintance, Jared, re-enters Bronwen's life and sweeps her off her feet, Bronwen thinks she's finally found someone to whom she can relate. And she's soon confident that she fits into Jared's world better than she fits into her own. On her 18th birthday, Jared presents her with an engagement ring. After readily accepting his proposal, Bronwen is on cloud nine until realities about potential married life bring her crashing back down. Told in lively first-person narrative, this intelligent romance teaches a hard but relevant lesson about living dreams and letting them go. Ages 12–18.

July 1, 2010
Grades 8-11 This debut novel offers a coming-of-age story with surprising twists and turns. High-school senior Bronwens favorite daydream is that she was switched at birth and really belongs with another, more accepting family. She loves her boyfriend, Jared, whose family feels like the one in her fantasy, but she wants to wait until they are married to have sex. Then Jared proposes, and as the teens begin to plan an elaborate beach wedding, Bronwens questions about both the past and future begin to surface. Told mainly in dialogue, this first-person narrative about the complexities of family and commitment will grab teens.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)