(2) YA Sunny Dae and his friends are the "nerd caste" (and also "42.85714286 percent of the entire nonwhite population") at their suburban Los Angeles high school. They are, after all, the hosts of a web series about building props for LARP events (live action role playing, for the uninitiated). But when he meets cool new girl Cirrus, Sunny hides his passions for crafting and role-playing games and pretends he's the front man of a band called the Immortals, using his older brother Gray's equipment and wearing his clothes. The lie escalates quickly: soon, both Cirrus and Sunny are smitten with "Rock Star Sunny," and the Immortals are preparing to perform in their school's talent show. Sunny's narration, full of inventive metaphors, is distinctly, gloriously nerdy. For example, when he hears that Gray quit his band for financial reasons: "It killed me that people had to cancel their dreams for endless toil, unless of course we somehow managed to pull ourselves out of these late-stage capitalist dark ages and into a Star Trek (TNG) future blessed with a universal basic income and sweet jumpsuits." Despite Sunny's self-professed cynicism, the novel is a joyful one: a bully easily becomes a friend; three geeky friends turn out to also be decent musicians; and ultimately Sunny, just as he is, gets the girl. For nerds--and those who love them--this is a fitting tribute.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

(2) YA High school senior Frank Li is the son of two first-generation Korean immigrant parents, and he knows that they have made sacrifices all their lives in order to give him opportunities. "Mom-n-Dad work at The Store every day, from morning to evening, on weekends, holidays, New Year's Day, 365 days of every year without a single vacation for as long as me and Hanna have been alive." He appreciates this, all while chafing at the binds of their expectations: ace the SATs; get into The Harvard; marry a Korean American girl. The setup of the story is pure romantic comedy: in order to keep his parents from finding out about his romance with white classmate and fellow nerd Brit Means, he fake-dates Joy Song, a girl from his parents' Korean circle of friends. An unexpected change in the Lis' lives forces Frank to grapple with what it means to really know a person, whether it be Brit, Joy, his best friend Q, or his father. Yoon writes in a lightly funny, self-deprecating, accessible voice; one that sounds like a contemporary teen ("Fuckin' parents, man") and reveals a deep understanding of bicultural complexities. As the novel faces issues of race and racism, culture, friendship, relationships ("Can you truly, truly say you love someone who's always been held at arm's length?"), and family, Yoon encourages readers to delve into issues of what it means to belong--and who in the end we would like to belong to, and with.

Reviewer: Christina L. Dobbs | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2020