Download a free excerpt of Nothing Like You.

When Holly loses her virginity to Paul, a guy she barely knows, she assumes their encounter is a one-night stand. After all, Paul is too popular to even be speaking to Holly...and he happens to have a long-term girlfriend, Saskia. But ever since Holly's mom died six months ago, Holly has been numb to the world, and she's getting desperate to feel something, anything—so when Paul keeps pursuing her, Holly relents. Paul's kisses are a welcome diversion...and it's nice to feel like the kind of girl that a guy like Paul would choose.

But things aren't so simple with Saskia around. Paul's real girlfriend is willowy and perfect... and nothing like Holly. To make matters worse, she and Holly are becoming friends. Suddenly the consequences of Holly's choices are all too real, and Holly stands to lose more than she ever realized she had.

?Nothing Like You is candid and quick-paced, with characters you can't help but want the best for.? —Deb Caletti, National Book Award finalist for Honey, Baby, Sweetheart

Like everyone in the world, I remember adolescence clearly -- and mostly with horror. It’s not the moments of humiliation that haunt me in the middle of the night, but piercing memories of mistakes I made: errors in judgment, ethical missteps, selfish unkindness. I could have been a case study for research proving that adolescent brain development (or the lack thereof) leads to reckless, foolish decisions. So when I decided to read all the 2009 finalist entries in the Young Adult (YA) category for the RITA, romance’s most prestigious prize, I was curious about how realistic they would be. Would these six heroines engage in anything that I -- or at least my memories of myself -- would recognize?

They do. In fact, all of these novels do a brilliant job depicting a young adult’s scrambled thinking and -- even better -- the first sign of the maturity that scientists promise will eventually occur. Here, the road to love is littered with risk-taking behavior.

In three of these stories, the heroines not only make excruciatingly bad decisions, but the consequences of their actions are front and center to the plot -- and those consequences range from humiliation to gunshot wounds. The heroine of Tina Ferraro’s The ABC’s of Kissing Boys doesn’t make it to the varsity soccer team. So Parker comes up with a desperate plan to get on the team that involves paying for a kiss, tricking her way onto the team and…making a fool of herself. Ouch! The mistakes similarly pile up in Lauren Strasnick’s Nothing Like You; the heroine here is sleeping with a popular guy in secret, while she makes friends with his long-time girlfriend. Can you spell Disaster? Neither of these novels flinch from putting their heroines in really dreadful, self-induced situations. I couldn’t stop reading; fascinated horror kept me turning the pages. Ally Carter's Don't Judge a Girl by her Cover showcases a different -- if no less immature -- aspect of the teenage brain. Cammie Morgan is a spy, attending one of the world’s best high schools for that business. At least she’s conscious of what she’s doing wrong: “Did I know it was against the rules? Yes. Did I think it was foolish? Absolutely.” But (sigh) she goes right ahead and does whatever she wants.

If you happen to be a young adult yourself, or you know a young lady who might be interested, you can’t do better than buy these books. As the mother of a tween, I know how hard it can be to find YA books that appeal to a young girl and don’t horrify the woman with a credit card in hand. Far too many books aimed at this age group are little more than candy floss tales of conspicuous consumption. These novels will satisfy both of you.

--Eloisa James

Categories:

• Literature & Fiction
  • Contemporary