You Say It First by Katie Cotugno - OPTIONAL

You Say It First by Katie Cotugno, 368 pages. Balzer + Bray (Harper), 2020. $18.

Language: PG-13 (34 swears, 44 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Meg is ready to move on from her life in Philadelphia to Cornell University with her best friend Emily.  Meg enjoys her job as a volunteer at a call center signing people up to vote.  One night she calls Colby and they start an unexpected relationship. Colby does not have his life figured out.  He is still reeling from a family tragedy and struggling to hold down a job.  His nightly calls to Meg begin to turn things around for the good and not so good. Colby and Meg form a friendship and possibly more, across phone lines, meeting up a few times.  But are they just too different to continue their relationship?           

The long distance, quirky relationship worked for me.  I enjoyed seeing a new side of the characters through their phone conversations.  I liked how they could look at each other's lives from a different perspective and help solve problems or make suggestions on solving problems.  This book did turned into an addictive read.  I was not sure which way their relationship was going to go, which kept me turning pages to the end.           

Jessica Nelson, Librarian