Come as You Are

After her boyfriend cheats on her with her sister, high school sophomore Everett “Evie” Riley transfers to Camden Academy, a New Hampshire boarding school. Her plans for a fresh start are quickly scrambled when she’s accidentally placed in an all-boys dorm—and is forced to stay. Hoping to shed her reputation as a “good girl,” she makes a deal with her stoner, slacker dorm neighbor, Salem: she’ll help him become an upstanding citizen to satisfy his parents if he teaches her how to be cool. While Evie begins to heal via new, supportive friendships—particularly with Salem’s sister Sabrina—her relationship with Salem develops from reluctant allies to friends to something more. Though Evie’s breezy, often sardonic narration belies her initial self-dubbed reputation as a doormat, it ferries the story along with humor and raw emotion, especially as she struggles with what she sees as her inability to be bad. Salem’s mixture of sarcasm and genuine kindness is endearing, and the pair’s bickering-but-caring dynamic, orchestrated by Adler (Going Bicoastal), is the star of the show. The main cast reads as white; Salem and Sabrina are Jewish. Ages 13–up. Agent: Patricia Nelson, Marsal Lyon Literary. (May)