The Sydney Taylor Shmooze

Finally Fitz by Marisa Kanter Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2024 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Rebecca Greer   Buy at Bookshop.org Ava “Fitz” Fitzgerald is thrilled to be spending the summer in New York City. She has her girlfriend Dani, a prestigious class at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology), and her followers on Instagram with “If the Shoe Fitz.” However, it all quickly starts going downhill; her girlfriend breaks up with her, and she’s suffering a creative block, unsure of what her brand is. She decides instead to connect with Tess, one of her three sisters, and the only one living in New York. Fitz started her Instagram account to try to keep in touch with her older sisters and used them as inspiration to repurpose their abandoned clothes. In an ‘only in New York’ experience she runs into her childhood best friend, Levi Berkowitz, on the subway. Since Levi was also recently dumped, they hatch a rom-com plan to fake date to get their exes back. In true ro...

As If on Cue by Marisa Kanter Simon & Schuster Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Rebecca Levitan Buy at Bookshop.org [This review is adapted from AJL News & Reviews, the newsletter of the Association of Jewish Libraries]  In her sophomore novel, Marisa Kanter ( What I like About You ) brings readers an enemies-to-lovers romance with a passion for the arts. As long as Natalie can remember, it’s been Natalie vs. Reid. Even though their families are close friends, Natalie and Reid don’t get along and are often locked in prank wars. When their school cuts the arts budget so that the orchestra, where Reid plays clarinet, gets all the money, and every single other arts program is cut, Natalie decides to show the value of other programs by putting on an original play. When their prank battle gets out of hand, she and Reid are forced to be co-directors of the play, now a musical. Clearly the two of them must learn to work together, but when things seem to be going too well, can Nat...

What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter Category: Young Adult Reviewer: A.R. Vishny Buy at Bookshop.org Marisa Kanter’s What I Like About You follows seventeen-year-old Halle, who runs a popular book blog under the pseudonym “Kels” that combines her two loves: young adult literature and cupcakes. Her ability to keep her real life and her online identity separate is put to the test when she starts at a new high school attended by one of her closest online friends: Nash. Nash doesn’t know much about Halle, but he is in love with Kels. At first, Halle decides to hide the truth about her online life from Nash. But as the blog takes off, that secret becomes harder and harder to keep. Kanter excels at depicting book blogger culture and YA Twitter. The book clearly reads from the perspective of someone who is immersed in and truly understands it. That being said, the book missed a few opportunities to dig deeper. Not exploring how Halle’s privileges and personal connections lend to her succes...