ManicPixieDreamGirl

Gr 9 Up—Tyler Darcy, 17, is in love, but not with Sydney, the girl who's been his steady for the past two years. He looks back on his first day of freshman year, when Becky became his unending obsession before Sydney even came into the picture. He knew nothing about her when their eyes met in a cafeteria line. That's pretty much the extent of the encounter, but from that moment on, Tyler makes her the star of his evolving short story. He writes Becky into his perfect dream girl. Over time, as a friendship forms between the two, he can't see past the character he has created. He makes excuses for one telling incident after another, and because everyone else seems to know about her reputation, including Sydney, Becky assumes that Tyler does, too. It's not until his short story is published by a literary magazine that both Sydney and Becky are forced to face the truth. Tyler is not in love with Sydney; he is in love with a girl that Becky can never hope to be. In this spare, well-written romance, Leveen points out the many ways in which we, often unwittingly, deceive ourselves and those around us when we fall in love. Teens will recognize themselves in the course of their own early romances, and possibly begin to realize what a messy business love can be.—Cary Frostick, Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA