GILM!

In this YA novel, a high school teen invokes magic when composing a song to impress a girl and must deal with the unfortunate consequences.

Geoff Smith and his dad have recently relocated from hot, sunny Houston to cold, rainy Portland, Oregon. Not only is the weather difficult to adjust to, but Geoff—a budding guitarist and singer-songwriter—must also cope with the separation from his band mates. The only good thing about the move is his new history classmate, Corinne Shelby. When Corinne challenges Geoff to “write me a song that rhymes something with the word ‘film’”—and promises to take him on a date if he succeeds—his heart soars. But no such rhyming word exists. Luckily for Geoff, his dad is a purveyor of arcane objects and books. Geoff uses one of the volumes to conjure an unstoppably catchy tune—one with so relentless an earworm that Corinne won’t care that its rhyming word (GILM!) is invented. The song sweeps through Alder High, turning Geoff into an overnight celebrity. But there are two problems: First, the boy who has been bullying the musician turns out to be Corinne’s brother, Will, and warns Geoff off their date. Second, the GILM! song is subverting people’s vocabularies and replacing words until much of their communication is just monosyllabic variations. With the spell soon set to become irreversible, will Geoff be able to quickly undo the magical damage he’s unleashed? Corley writes from Geoff’s perspective, primarily in the third person, past tense. Geoff is a relatable teen character, given to much self-doubt and overthinking. Indeed, the investigation of his imposter syndrome is one of the book’s strongest features. Throughout, the prose remains clear and assured. The story moves quickly, and while engaging readers with its overt speculative and YA elements (wish fulfillment and teen romance), it sneaks in some lovely character dynamics. Geoff’s only-child relationship with his single-parent dad is quite striking, as is the unfolding revelation, through the teen’s eyes, that Corinne is less an unobtainable ideal and more a real person with her own complexities. That Geoff and Corinne’s romantic involvement ultimately proceeds clearly signals that many of life’s complications come from within. All told, tween and teenage readers should approve.

A short, catchy indie-rock love song of a book with underlying depth.