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From School Library Journal

Starred review from September 13, 2024

Gr 9 Up-A bright, sapphic rom-com with a light frenemy trope and great friends whose witty banter boosts every single character up a notch. Jordan is starting junior year with the hopes of becoming an editor on the school newspaper. Unfortunately, this is not meant to be, but even worse, she's assigned the volleyball beat-which means constant contact with her worst nightmare, Mackenzie West. Perfect Mackenzie, captain of the team, seems to be all the popular girl tropes wrapped in one. But Jordan knew her before all the hype, when it was just the two of them becoming best friends the summer before high school. However, the first day of freshman year she overheard Mack call Jordan a stalker to her new, cool volleyball teammates. Being ghosted by someone she was so close to, and had a slight crush on, was tough. Can Jo find a way to get over what Mack did, even forgive her, and write a stellar story about the team and their captain? Or is it better to exact revenge on Mack? A wonderful cast of characters with a wide variety of representation-Jewish, Asian, and many from the LGTBQIA+ community-makes this novel so refreshingly open and happy. VERDICT Hand to fans of Becky Albertalli's novels and Casey McQuiston's I Kissed Shara Wheeler, and any teens who can't get enough of rom-coms with deep connections and a bit of angst.-Maria Ramusevic

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Booklist

February 15, 2024
Grades 8-11 Apart from Doctor Who, journalism is everything to fat, nerdy lesbian Jordan Elliott. Finally, it's junior year and she is at the top of her game, ready to step into an editor role. Except that when newspaper assignments are posted, there seems to have been some kind of mistake: Jordan is covering the volleyball beat. As if it couldn't get any worse, her best-friend-turned-nemesis, Mackenzie "Mack" West, is the team's captain and Jordan will have to write a feature spotlight on her. Determined to make the best of a worst-case scenario, Jordan resolves to keep their relationship strictly professional, but she suspects Mack is working a different angle. Can they not kiss and make up? Fiercely protective best friend, Audrey, won't let Jordan forget the past, and Isaac, third member of their geek squad, is distracted by Olivia, Mack's best friend and teammate. Meanwhile the Davenport High volleyball team is vying for the state championship, and a late-night hookup, hit piece, and epic romantic gesture ensue. Miller serves a perfect setup for high-school drama in this charming rom-com.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Kirkus

December 15, 2023
After being assigned the volleyball beat, an aspiring journalist must confront her history with the team captain. Jordan Elliot, a white-coded lesbian high school junior who self-identifies as fat, takes her work on the school paper very seriously, even when she doesn't get the editorship she wanted. Being forced to spend time with the former friend who betrayed her--Mackenzie West, with her "summer-tanned skin and blonde hair that fell down her back in perfect waves"--is harder to swallow. But with her friends' support, Jordan commits to writing the best articles she can about both the volleyball team and Mack. As she and Mack hang out, talking through how and why Mack hurt her, Jordan's romantic feelings are revived. If they're going to truly move on, though, Jordan must first confront her fear of rejection. The characters display an intriguing balance of endearing qualities and flaws that together add to the emotional impact of their choices. Jordan's genuine love for her friends and their hilarious banter further flesh out their world, making the non-romantic sections as enjoyable as the flirting and heart-to-hearts that Jordan and Mack share. Queer characters both exist casually and get to have their unique experiences highlighted, and Jordan's existence as a fat person is explored in ways that inform her personality and highlight her insecurities without becoming the entirety of who she is. A textured high school rom-com that serves up a lot of heart. (Romance. 13-18)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Publisher's Weekly

November 20, 2023
Following an inseparable summer before freshman year, Jordan Elliot came out as a lesbian to her best friend Mackenzie West, who subsequently dropped her. Now a high school junior, aspiring journalist Jordan is in her element and ready to take the school newspaper by storm. Except she doesn’t get named editor-in-chief like she was hoping for. Worse still, she’s covering the girls’ volleyball team, which Mack just became captain of. Regardless, Jordan is determined to put her all into her assignment—she’ll go to the games, learn the rules, and hang out with the team to make her reporting more authentic, just like any good journalist would. As she spends more time with Mack, however, Jordan starts catching glimpses of her old friend beneath the popular girl facade. But finding their way back to each other means confronting why Mack stopped being her friend in the first place. A sluggishly paced plot offers few surprises, but characters with affable personalities and Jordan’s endearing self-confidence as both a journalist and a proud fat teen put a positive spin on this enemies-to-lovers romance by Miller (Out of Character). Jordan and Mack read as white. Ages 13–up. Agent: Michaela Whatnall, Dystel, Goderich, & Bourret.

From AudioFile Magazine

Lindsey Dorcus depicts a teen romance between a newspaper nerd and a volleyball jock. When Jordan Elliott is given the volleyball beat for her school newspaper, she's devastated--not least because her nemesis, Mackenzie West, is captain of the volleyball team. Dorcus captures all the conflicting feelings that Jordan has about her unwanted assignment and about working closely with Mackenzie for a semester. Dorcus's portrait of an overachieving yet generally well adjusted 17-year-old keeps listeners feeling sympathy for the young reporter. Jordan's family and friends are portrayed as mostly likable and supportive, while teachers and other students at the school run the gamut from mentor to mean girl. Overall, Dorcus creates a well-rounded cast of characters. K.M.P. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine