Bittersweet

Gr 9 Up—Three years have passed since Hudson Avery's parents divorced and her dream of skating professionally disappeared as quickly as her father's exit to the southwest. Now she's living in the snow-ravaged, dead-end town of Watonka, NY, and baking cupcakes at her mom's diner. As she enters her senior year of high school, the teenager's desire to skate again resurfaces with the announcement of a cash prize competition and a strange twist of events that lead her to coach the varsity hockey team in exchange for ice time. As she becomes more involved with the team, the two co-captains vie for Hudson's attention and she has to choose between the charismatic and charming Will and the sweet and sensitive Josh. Hudson has a lot of decisions to make, and making one often leads to a bittersweet ending and another opportunity. Ariadne Meyers does a great job of voicing all the characters in Ockler's novel (Simon Pulse, 2012) and conveying just the right tone for Hudson's innermost thoughts and daydreams. She nails the sarcasm and snark of the teenagers, their preferred method of communication in the novel, and she easily switches her tone to convey Hudson as vulnerable and sensitive. A good pick for libraries looking to add to their realistic teen romantic comedy collections.—Jennifer Mann, Cromaine District Library, MI