This debut novel evokes a classic to present a girl searching for something true. There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.

Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends.

Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. Both Jack and Amber are White, while a deep bench of secondary characters includes Miguel, Amber’s Cuban American gay best friend–cum–fake boyfriend, and the school’s first Black cheer captain, Crystal.īubbly but not naïve: a worthy rendition of a classic high school story. Cara, one of Amber’s best friends, is the daughter of a fire-and-brimstone preacher, and the specter of bigotry is never far from the story’s consciousness. As QB, Jack attempts to fill the mythically enlarged shoes of a not-so-nice boy who died while driving drunk.

Sweet as the bones of the story are, it’s the dark flashes of underbelly that keep it moving. Adler keeps the pages turning with well-mapped tension and compelling characters, using clichés to her advantage as she builds an appealing and heartfelt romance. Against a nostalgic-yet truthfully brutal-tapestry of archetypal American teendom, the two find their way into each other’s pockets and under one another’s skin. Or, she would be, if the team and the town could swallow their sexism and accept Jack (short for Jaclyn) as the QB. Meanwhile, on the football team, talented new player Jack Walsh is ready to take the Atherton Alligators to the next level. All she needs to do is keep her sexuality under wraps. Pretty, peppy, and popular, junior Amber McCloud is poised to be the next cheer captain at her high school in the Florida Panhandle. A cheerleader-meets-quarterback story, with a twist.

Home field advantage by dahlia adler