The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo - ESSENTIAL

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo, 352 pages. Square Fish, 2019. $10.

Language: PG-13 (50+ swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

When her friends Felix and Patrick nominate her for junior prom queen, Clara goes in hard to win.  When she wins, however, and pulls her grand stunt as a huge “f-you” at the student body, and especially at primadonna Rose, she doesn’t expect Rose to react so violently that their struggle will start a fire. Now as recompense, Clara and Rose must work on Clara’s dad’s food truck all summer – Clara can’t even go visit her media influencer mom in Mexico. At first the girls, as expected, bump heads. But as sumer goes along, Clara realizes that Rose really isn’t so bad and that Clara herself has some growing up to do.

Yes, there is a hot boy also involved, but the relationship between Rose and Clara and Clara’s own need to grow-up are the important focus. Utterly charming!

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS