TWELVE LONG MONTHS

Molly Swain and Mark Dahl are about to graduate from La Sueur High in Minnesota. She has loved the cute, standoffish farm boy for years, and finally their lab partnership has afforded them the chance to become friends. Molly’s off to Columbia on scholarship after graduation, and when Mark announces he’s going to his uncle’s in New Jersey to live, Molly knows they were meant to be together. While out with new friends in New York City, however, Molly discovers Mark is gay. Their friendship actually grows instead of ending, and when Molly’s boyfriend Simon needs a roommate, she offers Mark. Simon is not what he appears to be, though, and Mark and Molly’s friendship as well as Molly’s newfound self-confidence are tested. Malloy’s second outing for young adults might be based on some eyebrow-raising coincidences, but the strength here is the realism of Molly’s voice. Too-young cover models mean this might take some selling to the right older teens. (Fiction. YA)