MEET CUTE DIARY

A transgender boy in love with the idea of falling in love charts a course for the ultimate relationship to save his viral blog from a troll attack.

Noah Ramirez, a Japanese, White, and Afro-Caribbean 16-year-old, is stuck in Denver with his college-age brother while his parents relocate from Florida to California. He plans to spend his summer exploring selfie-worthy shops as inspiration for his popular blog, a diary of clandestine, romantic, first trans love encounters. Reality hits him hard when his mom insists he get a job and a troll targets his blog with true accusations that his stories are fake. As Noah’s readership plummets, a seemingly perfect solution presents itself in the form of a gorgeous, White, cisgender boy who volunteers to fake date Noah in order to save the blog. Throughout the narrative, Noah demonstrates significant character growth: He begins the story naïve and self-absorbed but learns through his mistakes how to set boundaries, identify his needs in a relationship, and be a more supportive friend. The book’s explorations of gender identity and sexuality stand out for important representation of questioning and nonlinear self-discovery; one of the primary characters, an asexual, nonbinary, Cuban teen, tries out multiple labels and pronouns. High emotional tension and mounting stakes maintain a page-turning momentum. While the coming-of-age story awakens Noah to a less fluffy side of romantic relationships, the resolution is loving and hopeful.

A heart-swelling debut.