ROS DEMIR IS NOT THE ONE

A teen carries out a plan she devised years before for social climbing.

Rosaline Demir has long yearned to go to Pine Bay, a pricey resort in Maine where many of the kids from her high school in Connecticut vacation. So she makes sure to get invited to join her best friend Eleanor’s family when they finally go there. Eleanor is straightforward and kind. Ros is myopically focused on her dream of meeting a hot guy so she’ll have a better chance in her run for homecoming princess. It’s initially hard to like Ros as she makes excuses for things she does that hurt her friend, but a compelling backstory involving an earlier best friendship that soured will soften readers’ feelings toward her. Ros’ experience of her mixed heritage—her dad is from Türkiye, and her mother is Scottish American—have left her feeling an outsider in her “super-white town,” lending her further vulnerability and explaining her need for validation. Though Ros succeeds in acquiring a lovely boyfriend, Aydin, whose parents are also Turkish, her plans go awry upon their return to school, resulting in an unexpected and satisfying conclusion. Diversity in the supporting cast rounds out this ode to self-awareness: Ros’ friend Ben, who’s gay, and Chloe, who’s also biracial (Korean and white) but has a different social experience from Ros. Ben and Eleanor are cued white.

An engaging story with a rightfully complex protagonist.