cover image The Crazy Things Girls Do for Love

The Crazy Things Girls Do for Love

Dyan Sheldon. Candlewick, $16.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-7636-5018-6

Going green is initially more about romance than righteousness for high school rivals Sicilee and Maya, but their attempts to do so provide lots of laughs. It all begins when the girls vie for the attention of gorgeous new student Cody Lightfoot (“His are the kind of impossible good looks that make even the least impressionable of people think, My God! Is that what humans are supposed to look like?”). When he shows an interest in joining the school’s environmental club—previously “the most pathetic club in the whole universe”—and starts planning an Earth Day fair, the competition is on. Using drily funny third-person narration to expose various characters’ hypocrisies, Sheldon (My Worst Best Friend) shows impeccable comic timing and a strong sense of irony as she traces Sicilee’s and Maya’s education in veganism and their mostly unsuccessful attempts to persuade friends and family that their newfound desire to reduce, reuse, and recycle is sincere. Underlying the episodes is a relevant message about dwindling resources, as both heroines begin to realize that their environmental efforts may be more vital than snagging a boy. Ages 12–14. (Dec.)