In an offbeat meet-cute for the ages, independent, strong-willed Jane is skateboarding on her way to work when she falls on her coccyx in front of dopey soup-seller Jack. Are they a match made in slacker heaven? Not if the cute-girl network has anything to say about it. The network, a coalition of twentysomething women in Jane's new city, have taken it upon themselves to protect unsuspecting cute girls from falling victim to dating disasters. And unfortunately for Jack, he has quite a record: abandoning a date after being sent on an errand, falling through a glass table, and many other ineptitudes. But Jane is no stranger to mistakes herself, and she's confident in her ability to make her own choices. And besides that, there's something about this lovable loser that she can't quite get over. Flood breathes life into each snarky, well-rounded character in black-and-white illustrations that perfectly capture the particular sauntering, gadabout quality of early adulthood. This refreshing look at modern dating manages to be romantic without a shred of sentimentality.

Jack and Jane are modern young people in love. He works for minimum wage selling soup from a cart, and she-s proud of her skateboarding scars. Their dates consist of free activities, like visiting the vending-machine graveyard or listening to vinyl albums. Complications arise when Jane is confronted by the Network, -a loose alliance of smart, beautiful young women- who share information -to prevent yet another awesome girl from falling for yet another lame guy.- Jack doesn-t pass muster with them, so Jane-s got to decide: -sisters or misters?- Jack-s good heart is a tonic to her, compared to the sexism she has to put up with as a skater chick, even though the other girls hate how absentminded and clumsy he is. Flood-s tight close-ups keep the attention on the characters- feelings and help the snappy dialogue bite. The ultimate message-that someone may be right for you without meeting your friends- approval-is refreshing and reassuring. There-s also a lesson about female solidarity only going so far, particularly if you-re not a typical girl. Altogether it-s a fun, fresh take on romance with a fascinating subtext about gender relations. (Nov.)