RULES FOR RULE BREAKING

When two teen rivals reluctantly take a road trip together, all the rules are broken.

Sixteen-year-old Winter Park and 17-year-old Bobby Bae are not friends. Their parents might have become close, bonding as the only Koreans in their North Carolina town, and they might have similar high-achieving goals, but given the choice, Winter would have nothing to do with Bobby. The nemeses even have established rules of engagement to ensure minimal interaction. So, when the parental Parks and Baes set the condition that their kids are only allowed to head north for college visits this summer if they travel as a pair, they’re met with immense displeasure and protest. Winter’s halmeoni encourages them to take the unsupervised trip as an opportunity to actually be kids: “You are already the best. Try to be something else.” So, the normally uptight pair agree on a truce—naturally with some ground rules to cover their (occasionally illegal) shenanigans. Forced to actually spend time together, Winter and Bobby realize that although they know a lot about each other, they don’t actually know one another. Tucker’s debut is full of fun, slow-burn, romantic comedy Hallmark moments. While their budding romance is at the center of the story, they also work on mending relationships with friends and family. Through her protagonists, Tucker thoughtfully explores various facets of Korean American teenagers’ lives. The secondary cast includes additional racial diversity.

A thoughtful coming-of-age story filled with rom-com cuteness.