Gr 5 Up— This middle grade novel dives into tween relationships, family, and what it means to be a friend. Andrew and Eve have been best friends for as long as they can remember. When eighth grade starts, they realize it is against the unwritten rules for boys and girls to be friends—everyone decides they must be soulmates, instead. Through a funny turn of events, they inadvertently end up together, in a relationship that neither one of them really wants. Now the only way to save their friendship is to make the other one break up with them—but that is easier said than done! Miller authentically captures the awkwardness and high jinks of middle school. Each situation feels genuine, and readers will stay engaged while not knowing if they are cheering for Andrew and Eve to break up or stay together. These relatable characters value the friendship they have built but are influenced by a large cast of secondary characters. This coming-of-age story will stay with everyone who reads it. VERDICT The perfect book for middle school romance sections; a must-buy.— Heather Lassley

Lifelong best friends Eve and Andrew survive a "Category 5 emotional hurricane" in the first months of eighth grade.Eve is thrilled when Andrew returns from two months away with his family, but things are immediately weird. It seems to matter-to their families and friends, anyway-that Eve's a girl and Andrew's a boy, even though the two of them don't intend for anything to change. But when Eve's cross-country friends start talking about dates for the school dance, Eve worries she'll be "left out and left behind," so during his marching band practice, she asks Andrew to go with her. Their respective friend groups assume they're dating, ruining their friendship, which is especially unfortunate for Eve, whose parents have been fighting. Both kids receive tragically bad advice, and each ends up determined to make the other initiate the breakup-and each stubbornly refuses to be the one to break up with the other, leading to mean pranks, hurt feelings, and a huge fight at a school event. Eve struggles with the belief that her relationship with Andrew makes her mom happy; after the public disaster, Eve's parents reassure her that it's not her responsibility to hold the family together. Andrew's mom teaches him about sincere, heartfelt communication. Andrew and Eve ultimately break up, restoring their friendship in a messily honest, heartfelt, and satisfying denouement on the playground. Main characters read white.Perfectly captures the "actual disorder" of being 13. (Fiction. 10-14)