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Another powerful, involving exploration of teen girls' identities and relationships from the ever-improving Vivian (A Little Friendly Advice, 2008, Same Difference, 2009). Type-A super-achieving high-school senior Natalie Sterling has a foolproof plan: Win the Student Council presidency, ace the SATs, gain acceptance to her top-choice colleges and get out of Liberty River. Sure, she'll miss her best (OK, only) friend, Autumn, and yes, there's been no room for romance in her life to date, but Autumn's reputation-ruining freshman-year relationship taught Natalie that “trusting boys [is] just like drinking and driving"--not worth the risk. Enter Spencer, Natalie's former babysitting charge, all grown up and provocative as hell, and Connor, a cute football player with unexpected depth. Natalie finds her deeply held beliefs about feminism challenged, first by Spencer's half-baked assertions about female sexuality, then by Connor's wholehearted embrace of Natalie's strength and determination. Can teen girls own their sexuality and be taken seriously? It's rare to see second- and third-wave feminism square off in YA literature so successfully; don't miss this round. (Fiction. 14 & up)
