Crushing It

A girl tells her best friend just what to say to woo the boy next door, only to be left wondering if she really wanted him for herself in this middle grade rom-com.

Kat is already so over seventh grade. Her best friend and cousin, Olivia, grew a foot over the summer and won a spot on the school’s dance team, making her even more popular than last year. In the jungle that is middle school, Olivia is a gazelle and braces-wearing, manga-loving, uncoordinated Kat is a warthog. Plus, Tyler, Kat’s next-door neighbor and buddy since birth, has morphed into a really cute boy. Suddenly the person Kat’s used to playing Xbox with is causing her stomach to do cartwheels.

When Olivia confesses she has a crush on Tyler and wants to ask him to the Fall Ball, Kat decides to be a good friend and squash her own feelings. After all, Olivia will need Kat’s help to disprove Tyler’s assumption that she’s ditzy and only cares about lip gloss and boy bands. Kat’s one of Tyler’s oldest friends and can tell Olivia exactly how to get his attention.

From writing “Tyler cheat sheets” listing his favorite things to feeding Olivia lines through her headphones during Olivia and Tyler’s study sessions, Kat devises schemes to make Tyler fall for Olivia. And to her delight—or maybe horror—her plan begins to work. Now that Olivia’s caught Tyler’s attention, Kat has to wonder if she’s fooled Tyler into falling for the wrong girl. But what boy would ever choose a warthog over a gazelle?