Kiss Crush Collide
Leah Johnson is the youngest of the three perfect Johnson sisters: valedictorians, prom queens, athletes, and scholars. In the summer before her senior year, preparing for her oldest sister’s wedding, she wakes up to the fact that she wants no part of the perfect life her mother has orchestrated for her. A major part of that is her handsome, football-star boyfriend, whose advances she’s been fending off for months. The catalyst for these realizations is a chance encounter with the valet-parking boy at the country club, with whom Leah has not only serious chemistry but also honest affection. Although there are plenty of steamy but nongraphic groping sessions, it’s the strong character development that drives Meredith’s first novel. Leah is cynical, self-aware, and breaking free from a stifling future while learning how to better understand her family. Meredith also displays a great ear for teen interior monologues in Leah’s compelling first-person narrative. Readers will delight in Leah’s transformation from wealthy, privileged brat to a young woman ready to take chances and live her own life. Grades 9-12. --Debbie Carton