We Were Promised Spotlights

January 1, 2020

Gr 9 Up-A reluctant queen bee stumbles toward discovering her true self as she contends with expectations and her sexuality in a small town at the end of the 1990s. With high school almost over, Taylor Garland only wants two things: for her best friend Susan to reciprocate her (hidden) romantic feelings and to leave tiny Hopuonk, MA, where she's bored by everything. Her future feels predictable and depressing, but pursuing a different path seems impossible. At one point, Taylor says that she "keeps meaning to be a different person" but doesn't know how to become one. Revealing her real self-whoever that is-may bring satisfaction but may potentially throw her whole life in disarray. Much of the story hinges on Taylor accepting that she's a lesbian. She carries a wealth of internalized homophobia as well as cliched ideas about what it may mean to be gay. Taylor's crowd is fickle and callous, casually bullying their peers, being cruel to each other, and incessantly tossing around offensive slurs. The writing is at times lovely, and the setting of a tiny, ramshackle town casts a fittingly depressing vibe over an already bleak story. Taylor is compellingly flawed and unpredictable, and her path to growth, while rocky and cringe-inducing, is frank and honest. A hopeful if out-of-nowhere ending allows readers to think that maybe Taylor can indeed become the different person she means to be. VERDICT Hand this grim coming-of-age story to readers who don't mind characters who can be difficult to like.-Amanda MacGregor, Parkview Elementary School, Rosemount, MN

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2020
A small-town coming-out story. Taylor Garland is the star of Hopuonk, Massachusetts, and the newly crowned homecoming queen--just like her mother was in 1978. With features that are "impossibly perfect" and a mystery dad who may or may not be a famous actor, she is an object of desire. Taylor has chosen homecoming king Brad, but the only reason she's with Brad is because he is attractive to girls and she's attracted to them. Taylor has been in love with one girl in particular since middle school--her best friend, Susan, and Susan has liked Brad for the same amount of time. It's senior year, and Taylor's life is full of uncertainties: sex with Brad, telling Susan the truth about her feelings, coming out. Even graduation isn't a given because she is struggling to keep her grades up. The one thing she is certain about is her need to get out of Hopuonk. Since the story is set in 1999, readers may not recognize some of the references. The storyline involving the identity of Taylor's father feels like a plot device that ultimately serves no purpose. All characters are assumed white, and character development of the supporting cast is weak, with many of them fitting high school stereotypes. However, the coming-of-age lesbian aspect of the novel is explored with humor and tenderness. An enjoyable debut. (Fiction. 16-18)

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March 1, 2020
Grades 9-12 Hopuonk, Massachusetts, 1999. Taylor Garland should be on top of the world. She's got the kind of beauty that makes things happen, she's dating homecoming king Brad O'Halloran, she's a shoo-in for prom queen, and she's desperately in love. But all of that falls apart with a closer look. Taylor isn't content to coast through high school, marry Brad, and settle into a career in Hopuonk as a dental hygienist. It's not Brad she's in love with, but her best friend, Susan. As Taylor moves through her senior year, she halfheartedly tries to deny her sexuality while recalling times when she pushed friends away for theirs. When graduation approaches and Hopuonk's limited possibilities threaten to hem her in, Taylor begins to wonder what would happen if, instead of trying so hard to look perfect, she just burned her life down. Through Taylor's dry, biting narration, Sproul takes aim at small towns and small minds, relentlessly probing into the shadows of both. A claustrophobic, introspective debut from a bold new voice.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)