Lippincott, Rachael and Alyson Derrick. She Gets the Girl. Simon & Schuster, 04/2022. 384pp. Fiction. GRADES 9 – 12. $18.99. 978-1-5344-9379-7. HIGH ADDITIONAL.
Alternating narrators Molly and Alex are two openly gay girls who meet when they start college together. Alex is trying to have a long-distance relationship with her girlfriend, but she’s such a flirt that she seems unable to make a full commitment. Molly is desperate to date her high school crush but her social anxiety and relationship with her mom are getting in the way. Alex comes up with a plan to help Molly date her crush, which she hopes will also impress her girlfriend, but of course they end up falling for each other in the process. Alex is white and low income, struggling to support her alcoholic mother; Molly is Korean and in the last third of the book becomes aware of her mother’s discomfort with her own race and how that’s affecting her own identity. Though a bit predictable, this is still a fun and entertaining romance, where being gay is never the focus, it’s all about who gets the girl.
Sarah Kaminker—San Francisco Public Library