Hearts Made for Breaking

In Lark’s senior year of high school, her best friends decide she needs to change her romantic m.o. They’re tired of her moving through boys, then getting them to dump her before it gets serious. Try something real, her friends say, with someone who’s not like anyone she’s ever dated (“someone who’s not popular, who isn’t a team captain or an honor roll student”)—which is where Ardy comes in. He has just transferred to Lark’s school, and word is that he’s “undateable,” but he’s cute, and when Lark gets to know him, she sees that he’s weird in a good way—substantial, unique. But after she starts snooping into why he transferred rather than asking him, things get messy. Klein (Shuffle, Repeat) shows how Lark flirts to slide through life without letting anyone get too close, and how Ardy’s unconventionality frees Lark to be herself. Lark and Ardy feel genuine, and readers will become invested not only in their relationship but also in the risk-taking new Lark who emerges, who ’fesses up to mistakes and tries to fix them. Ages 12–up. [em](Apr.) [/em]