The Pros of Cons

In this entertaining and sometimes slapstick testament to the power of friendship, three teenage girls—each attending a different convention held in the same location—help each other overcome their respective conflicts. Vanessa Montoya-O’Callaghan is eager to finally meet her online girlfriend and fanfic co-writer at WTFcon. Phoebe Byrd can’t wait to rock out at the Indoor Percussion Association. And Callie Buchannan hopes to get some quality time with her workaholic father by helping out as his assistant at the World Taxidermy Championships. Naturally, everything goes wrong: Vanessa’s girlfriend is increasingly awful in person, Phoebe falls for one of her bandmates, and Callie chafes at her father’s demands. Working seamlessly in alternating POV chapters, Cherry, Ribar, and Schusterman deliver a laugh-out-loud romp that finds humor and drama in three very different fields of interest. As the story lines converge, readers will delight in seeing these passionate girls recognize that it’s okay to want things and to screw up, and that sometimes you make unexpected friends in the process. Ages 12–up. Agent: (for Cherry) Holly Root, Waxman Leavell Literary; (for Ribar) Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates; (for Schusterman) Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary. (Mar.)