The Cute Girl Network
In an offbeat meet-cute for the ages, independent, strong-willed Jane is skateboarding on her way to work when she falls on her coccyx in front of dopey soup-seller Jack. Are they a match made in slacker heaven? Not if the cute-girl network has anything to say about it. The network, a coalition of twentysomething women in Jane’s new city, have taken it upon themselves to protect unsuspecting cute girls from falling victim to dating disasters. And unfortunately for Jack, he has quite a record: abandoning a date after being sent on an errand, falling through a glass table, and many other ineptitudes. But Jane is no stranger to mistakes herself, and she’s confident in her ability to make her own choices. And besides that, there’s something about this lovable loser that she can’t quite get over. Flood breathes life into each snarky, well-rounded character in black-and-white illustrations that perfectly capture the particular sauntering, gadabout quality of early adulthood. This refreshing look at modern dating manages to be romantic without a shred of sentimentality. --Sarah Hunter