The Boy I Love

Wren and her best friend Allie are starting sophomore year at a new high school, and a chance run-in with an alligator proves to be an unlikely attention-getter for Wren, who’s worried about being invisible. Then, at Wren’s first school party, she is accidentally knocked into a bonfire and gets a terrible burn on her hand. This unexpected turn of events, which might mean the end of Wren’s guitar playing, fades from her mind as she becomes concerned about anti-gay prejudice at her school, her family’s history as slave owners, financial difficulties that could result in the loss of Wren’s family’s farm, her faltering friendship with Allie, a role in the school play, and more. Wren has a lot going on, in other words—too much for the novel to carry effectively. De Gramont (Every Little Thing in the World) leaps from one problem to the next so frequently the many plot threads feel jumbled. By the end of the book, readers may be left wondering what the story was really about. Ages 12–up. Agent: Peter Steinberg, the Steinberg Agency. (Sept.)