Some Like it Cold

Gr 10 Up–Jasper Montgomery has been away at university for the last 18 months. When she returns to her small Scottish hometown for Christmas, it’s with the intention of saying goodbye to it forever. She’s dropping out of her courses to attend a design school, and she knows her parents will be opposed. Jasper has autism and has been masking her whole life, but now she’s decided it’s time to finally be herself. “The mask her parents had, perhaps unknowingly, demanded that she wear had grown too tight, too suffocating and too tolerated by others.” Still in town is Arthur, Jasper’s longtime school nemesis. Arthur, a budding filmmaker, has always had a crush on Jasper. Maybe the short film he is producing about love in their small town will finally show her how he feels. The story alternates perspectives between Jasper and Arthur, so readers are never guessing how the other person is feeling. This leads to a very satisfying ending for the story’s romance. McNicoll has really fleshed out characters, which makes it easy for readers to empathize with all of them. She is also neurodivergent and shares in the author’s note, “This is a love story. It has an autistic heroine. I did not know I was allowed to read or write books like this when I was sixteen. I wish that I had. I’m making up for lost time now.”