The Homecoming War

September 1, 2023
A high school junior fights her attraction to the jock who could derail her postgraduation plans. On the cusp of turning 16, Megan Williams is on a mission. Academic excellence guarantees she can escape her California town and the memories of her late father, whose ghost casts a shadow over her childhood home. Meg, whose father was white, lives with her Black mom and maternal grandmother; her older sister is away at college. Meg's thrown for a loop when the district announces that her school, Hirono High, will be combined with its rival, Davies High. This decision means she could lose the junior class presidency, marring her otherwise impeccable track record. Enter Chris Chavez, who is cued Latine. He's Davies' handsome junior class president, a star baseball player, and an obstacle on Meg's road to glory. When Chris refuses to resign, the pair must work together to keep the peace and defuse an escalating prank war. As Meg and Chris grow closer, Meg starts to wonder if her crush is a betrayal of her friendships, her leadership role, and herself. Told through Meg's first-person narration, Woolridge's debut YA novel touches on grief's many forms and explores how loss changes family dynamics. Chris is an empathetic, thoughtful, pointedly nice guy, in contrast to Meg's anxious, Type A personality, and their relationship is cute. The challenges keeping the couple apart are relatively minor, however, so the story fails to sustain tension. A lighthearted if low-stakes romance. (Romance. 13-17)

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October 1, 2023
Grades 7-10 Meg's roller-coaster ride through her junior year is fun and heartwarming. As the incoming class president at Hirono High, Meg is ready to take on the year. After a breakup with her boyfriend, she's excited about a fresh start until toxic mold forces her school to close. With nowhere to go, the Hirono High students merge with Davies High, and the tension is thick. Both student bodies engage in a pranking war as Meg and her counterpart--Chris, the Davies High class president--attempt to unite the schools. Meg knows she shouldn't be attracted to Chris, but his personality is magnetic, and she likes his band's music. As the two spend time together, Meg realizes that her inconvenient little crush might not be so little. Surrounded by a realistically diverse group of friends, Meg is able to take on the world, and readers will empathize with the difficult choices she has to make. With plenty of appeal for the younger end of the YA range, this youth debut from adult books author Woolridge serves as the perfect pick-me-up.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.