Recommended Reading

Bobby Ashton has his summer all planned out—until his flash mob declaration of love ends in disaster. Not only does his crush reject him, he also accidentally smashes the window of the town’s luxe bookstore and misses his first day of training at his new job, leaving him heartbroken, unemployed, and kicked off the planning committee for the upcoming book festival. He narrowly escapes losing his college scholarship by persuading his sculptor mother to come out of retirement to donate a piece to the university. Bobby takes a job at family friend Andy’s run-down bookstore, where his knack for recommending the perfect title starts to build a loyal customer base that includes lifeguard Luke, a recent transplant who questions Bobby’s extravagant matchmaking schemes. Yet even as the boys grow closer, Bobby doubts the potential for romance. After all, Bobby can’t imagine Luke being interested in a flamboyant, fat, romance-loving guy like him. Sharp dialogue and steady narration by Coccia (Leon Levels Up) highlight the complicated insecurity of budding adulthood, and Bobby’s empathetic characterization as a fat gay teen trying to salvage his tumultuous final summer before college makes for a warm and delightful rom-com. Protagonists read as white. Ages 12–up. (Jan.)