Whatever.

June 15, 2016
With a close-knit group of guy friends, a cool girlfriend, and few worries, Mike's junior year is off to a great start. Until it isn't. First, the white suburbanite's girlfriend, Lisa, informs him that they aren't actually dating. Then he finds out that, while blackout drunk at a party, he made out with a guy. Now everything shifts into unfamiliar territory. Mike can't help but freak out as he begins to notice how he is thinking about guys, especially Rook Wallace, his enemy since middle school. On top of this, Lisa has wrangled him into running for student government with her, filling his once contentedly slacker schedule with dreaded extracurricular participation. The third-person narrative moves quickly with plenty of realistic teen banter. Risky underage behavior abounds, including a lot of heavy drinking and pot smoking, and is, for the most part, consequence-free in the way that only a story centered on middle-class white kids can be. Mike's self-talk as he grapples with his sexual identity is at times cringeworthily self-deprecating. Though there are some rough patches as he comes out to his friends, the most resistance he experiences in coming to terms with his sexuality is from himself. A humorous account of a teen's reluctant and awkward journey to acceptance of his emerging bisexuality. (Fiction. 14-18)

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Starred review from August 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-As a high school junior, Mike thought he knew himself. He is obsessed with garage rock. His favorite weekend pastime is going to parties. His friends are a ragtag bunch of daredevils and misfits he has been hanging out with since grade school. Although he previously dated only girls, he realizes now how that was a smoke screen. In truth, Mike is attracted to guys. How does this new revelation fit in? Goslee's portrayal of this existential crisis is as humorous as it is grounding. All the feelings of disbelief and anxiety that one might expect are delivered in the way only a 16-year-old boy could articulate, profanity and sexual innuendos included. Although this book could be easily accessible to a younger teen, it does feature more mature content, making it more suitable for older teens. Ultimately, this work focuses on a very common experience. Finding out that you don't fully understand yourself is no easy feat. VERDICT Recommended for young adults who enjoy realistic fiction such as Bryan Lee O'Malley's "Scott Pilgrim" series or books by John Green, Adam Silvera, or John Corey Whaley.-Jaclyn Anderson, Madison County Library System, MS

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2016
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Let's face it, dudes and dudettes: Goslee's debut is seriously cool. In large part that's due to her droll cast of characters. Her star is 16-year-old Mike, whose three favorite things are his little sister, Rosie; his garage band; and his sorta girlfriend, Lisa. Only now Lisa has broken up with himsorta. That's bad, but not fatal, because she's still his BFF. Until she mentions how he's gay. But Mike's not gay. Is he? At least Rook Wallace, his long-time bete noire, firmly remains his foe. Doesn't he? Geez, what next? Well, there's the horrifying prospect of actually coming out, for one. And dating, for two. Life sure is hard. Goslee's take, on the other hand, is exceedingly easy to like. In describing Mike's tentative steps toward self-awareness, the author doesn't make a single false step. Everything is just right: the tone, the style, the right-on dialogue, the characterization, the apposite amount of angsty drama, the pace of the genuinely sweet-spirited story. Fans of David Levithan's Boy Meets Boy (2003) and Becky Albertalli's Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (2015) won't be disappointed, and there isn't much higher praise than that.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)