The Temperature of Me and You

Jordan catches 16-year-old Dylan’s attention when he walks into the Philadelphia-suburb Dairy Queen where Dylan works. Jordan’s hot, as in good looking, but he’s also literally warm, running a steady temperature of 110 °F. Dylan, who doesn’t have a lot going on aside from painting by number with cheerleader best friends Kirsten and Perry, finds himself intrigued and crushing. Recently orphaned Jordan seems nice, but he keeps disappearing on Dylan for unclear reasons, heats up so much when stressed that he catches fire, and is followed by mysterious people. As the two high school juniors grow closer, Dylan tries to figure out what’s occurring; meanwhile, a rash of fires leads aspiring journalist Kirsten to look into their origins. Zepka’s debut combines a superhero-like origin story with a rom-com and throws in a mystery, as the cued-white love interests try to sort out what’s going on at the fuel company where Jordan’s parents once worked. The weakest link is the teens’ investigation, which resolves a bit easily given the stakes, but as an average guy coping with things science can’t explain—love included—Dylan is an appealing character. Ages 12–up. Agent: Liz Parker, Verve Talent and Literary. (Jan.)