A TALE OF TWO BESTIES

Separated by new high schools, two best friends dive into unfriendly social waters without each other as safety nets.

Ever since fourth grade, Lily and Harper have been best friends. Blonde and popular, Harper adopts awkward, fairy-wing–wearing Lily as a friend, and the two become instantly inseparable. At 13, they face a harrowing prospect: entering their freshman year at different high schools. They make a pact to never change who they are and what they mean to one another, no matter what happens. While Harper continues public school at Beverly High, Lily moves on to Pathways Academy, a private school known for nurturing individuality. In a twist pulled from teen movies, Harper flounders and can’t find her social footing, while Lily becomes an instant star at Pathways, setting a fairy-wing trend blazing through the hallways and the blogosphere. As the girls swiftly change, can their friendship survive separation? The tale is weighed down by a barrage of pop-culture references—Rossi is a co-founder of the Internet community HelloGiggles along with Zooey Deschanel, who contributes an introduction—and it’s difficult to get a feel for who Lily and Harper really are, even as they ponder it themselves. Though there are requisite trials with bullies and boys, the spotlight on the girls’ friendship sustains an otherwise clichéd dramedy.

A fluffy romp in familiar territory.