Is He Or Isn't He‪?‬

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY JUL 3, 2006

With overtones of last fall's M or F?, this tale centers on a cute new high school student who becomes the crush of two best friends-a guy and a girl. But 17-year-old Paige and Anthony cannot decide if Max is straight or gay; Anthony's "gaydar" does not work on Max. Even as their friendships with Max develop, they remain unsure: Max agrees to play the gay lead character in Anthony's film, Not All Italian Boys Are Straight, but also accepts Paige's invitation to spend a weekend at her house in the Hamptons. Despite the playful set-up, most of the plotting seems scripted; readers may not be able to guess the answer to the title question, but they will have no problem figuring out how Paige and Anthony will eventually end up, and what lessons they will learn along the way. Sensible Paige and dramatic Anthony's friendship has a fun dynamic ("Did you dress in the dark?" Anthony hisses at Paige when she wears sweats to a movie night that Max is attending), but it is hard to understand what they see in boring Max, beyond his good looks. Even glamorous details about the characters' Manhattan lives (their parents are celebrities, they buy designer clothes and attend fancy parties) do not contribute much energy to the story. In the end, readers may not stick around long enough to find out if Max is or isn't. Ages 14-up.