Something Like Fate

Sixteen-year-old Lani feels an instant spark with Jason, but tries to ignore her feelings because he's dating her best friend, Erin. When Erin goes to summer camp, Jason breaks up with her and Lani starts seeing him in secret. Lani and Erin are both obsessed with fate—horoscopes, birth charts, dream analysis, etc.—and Lani must decide if her relationship with Jason is meant to be, even if it is what a fortune teller predicted will destroy her bond with Erin. Readers will understand both Lani's connection with Jason, who "feels like home," and her bond with Erin, which was crystallized when they were in a car accident years earlier, but has been weakening. Erin's reaction to the romance is intense, and Lani soon find herself a social outcast, while her friendship with her closeted gay friend, Blake, is strained after he's outed and harassed. Lani's obsession with the mystical can feel more like a device than an innate part of her personality, but her struggle with fate nonetheless adds needed depth to this familiar romantic triangle. Ages 12–up. (May)