Speak for Yourself

April 19, 2021
Johnson (Technically, You Started It) combines the old and the new, balancing familiar romance themes with up-to-date dialogue and text talk in a clever cyber-age novel about an ambitious teen who has everything planned out. Skylar Collins, who is white, wants to own her own tech company in five years; before that, though, she needs to accomplish a few other things. First on the agenda is leading her high school ScholEx team to victory at a regional quiz bowl competition—just as soon as she rounds up enough members to qualify. To get musically inclined Joey on the team, Skylar agrees to find out if Joey’s crush, debate partner Zane, likes her. Skylar brings coding prowess to the problem, creating Requite, a matchmaking app that can answer the question. As the app’s fast-growing popularity demands much time and energy, distracting Skylar from her goals and making her rethink what’s important, her own growing attraction to Zane complicates matters. The novel’s outcome is fairly predictable, with secondary characters that sometimes fall flat, but Johnson successfully conveys the pitfalls of following too narrow a path in a novel whose wit and relatable crises keep pages turning. Ages 12–up. Agent: Bridget Smith, JABberwocky Literary.

April 15, 2021
Teen coder Skylar gets distracted by romance in her bid to win an academic competition. Sixteen-year-old Skylar has her future all planned out: Her Study Buddy flashcard app will help her team win the national Scholastic Exposition, which will in turn help her get into Stanford. And her debilitating migraines are mostly under control with new medication--as long as she avoids stress. But her school's competition team still needs one more member, and supersmart Joey will only agree if Skylar helps her find out whether her charismatic debate team partner, Zane, likes her. Ruling out more traditional methods, Skylar quickly builds Requite, an app that matches teens if they upload one another's pictures. Thinking Study Buddy would be her ticket to success, Skylar grows frustrated as Requite instead grows in popularity. And does Zane think she built the app to match with him? The writing overall fails to engage; the ambitious narrative includes countless text messages, emails, and chat transcripts that often feel awkward and forced. With an overly complicated setup, including an underdeveloped side plot about a guy who led Skylar on, the story gets so bogged down in details that the pacing drags. Main characters are White, in keeping with the lack of diversity in Skylar's school. A much-needed but disappointing depiction of a female coder. (Fiction. 12-18)

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June 1, 2021

Gr 7 Up-High school junior Skylar has been making apps and staying in her lane for as long as she can remember. Her best friend Mads handles the graphic design but is in a new relationship with Kaden, which means the friends are spending less time together. They're all in Scholastic Exposition together, though, and this year Skylar, the captain, has big plans for the team to win ScholEx Nationals. But she has friction with teammate Zane, who recruits his debate partner, Joey, to the team. Ensue love triangle: Because Joey likes Zane, Skylar makes a matchmaking app called Requite so they can connect, but readers know that Zane is really interested in Skylar, who is clueless. Skylar's well-crafted plans for ScholEx get muddied when Requite takes off, things with Zane and Joey fizzle out, and Skylar can't take a hint that Zane actually likes her. Group chats, goal lists, press releases, and emails replete with coding and app-creating language give this charming romance a modern feel. Readers will enjoy the authenticity of the friendships and the crush drama as they read between the lines. A thread of Skylar's serious migraine headaches gives some depth to her character but doesn't meaningfully impact the plot. One protagonist is Black, and all others are cued white; Kaden uses they/them pronouns, and there is a queer relationship. VERDICT A unique romance choice where coding and STEM are popular topics.-Jamie Winchell, Percy Julian M.S., IL

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