Grade 6–9—Summertime in Salt Lake City finds four friends falling in and out of love and lust. Ed, the goofball, works in a local DVD rental store with no-nonsense, regency-romance-loving Scout, who happens to harbor a major crush on him. Enter gorgeous, vivacious Ellie, who sweeps Ed off his feet with one toss of her hair, and for whom he devises a sexy, Brazilian alter ego named Sergio, as in Mendez, to impress. Meanwhile, Ed's computer geek BFF, Quark, pines for Scout. Crushes, confusions, mistaken identities, and lighthearted humor run amok in this well-written, clean, simple romance. The characters aren't exactly memorable, but they're cleverly drawn in broad strokes of jokingly concise dialogue, most of which will sound familiar to teen readers. They are bright, intelligent, and mature beyond their years. In the teen book world, unfortunately, this doesn't necessarily add up to attention-grabbing plot tension. What results is a solid, safe book that doesn't push any buttons, which may put off readers looking for something more dynamic.—Hillias J. Martin, New York Public Library
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