Overview
Before he met Mia, resigned loser Albert Kim was too busy dodging high school sociopaths to imagine having a girlfriend. Much less the adorable ex-girlfriend of alpha jerk Ryan Stackhouse. Yet somehow, by the end of a summer working at an inn together, Al and Mia are "something."Then September arrives with a thud: Ryan has been diagnosed with cancer and needs Mia at his side. As the school year turns into one giant tribute to Ryan, Al can't help but notice that Ryan may not be quite who everyone-particularly Mia-thinks he is. Before his heart shatters completely, Al has just a few more things to point out. . . .
Editorials
Julie Just
It wouldn't seem possible to make high school jocks, popular girls and losers fresh and hilarious, but Yoo does it.—The New York Times
Children's Literature -
Albert Kim is an intentional loser. But the summer he starts a job at The Bern Inn and meets Mia Stone, his world is turned upside down. Al's lack of social skills makes for a comedy-of-errors-type friendship as the two of them team up to battle their creepy boss and their mundane duties. When Mia, confesses all about her breakup with Bern High's most beloved man Ryan, Al begins to fall in love with her. By the end of the summer, they are officially "something." But Ryan is diagnosed with cancer soon after school starts, and he requests Mia to be his constant support. As Mia gives Ryan her undivided attention, Al's melodramatic, paranoid tendencies keep his relationship with Mia from thriving. When Al discovers that Ryan is using his illness to get Mia back, it becomes Al's word against the entire town—which has rallied behind Ryan as if he were a fallen hero. In this tragic love story of the saddest kind, Al learns important life lessons about himself. He is no longer unpopular on purpose; instead, he finds solid friends that accept him for who he is. Yoo's attention to detail and his inclusion of frequent trivia and pop-culture references keep the story alive and entertaining, while his tale of a young man's first love includes all the mania and agony that is realistically possible. The first-person narrative from Al's perspective will appeal to both male and female readers, making for a broad audience. This novel stays true to the high school experience. Readers will laugh, sigh and cheer along with Al. While his writing is carefully articulated, Yoo sometimes allows Al's mind to take purposeful tangents, and these can drag on too long to keep readers' attention. Reviewer:Ashleigh VanadaVOYA -
It is summer in Bern, a suburb outside of Boston, and sixteen-year-old Albert Kim's parents have given him two options: He can either attend an academic boarding camp or get a job. Because Albert's stint at the Symposium for Teenage Development last year was unsuccessful, he decides to get a job cleaning an inn. Luck is on Albert's side because his co-worker is fellow rising junior, Mia Stone, the girl "everyone at Bern High School is either in love with . . . or hates, as befitting someone with her universally desired/admired looks." After more than his share of awkward moments and gaffes, Albert manages to get Mia's attention, and the two become "something"-that is until her ex-boyfriend, The House, gets Hodgkin's disease and needs her help. Albert tries to hold onto Mia, but it seems the three-year connection between her and The House is too durable. Albert is likeable, witty, and interesting, but he is also extremely nanve and suffers from bouts of social misfit syndrome. He plays with eleven-year-olds because he has no friends his own age. When he finds friends in high school, he struggles to decipher social cues. The book is a fresh look at the protagonist-as-outsider although more consideration should have been given to appropriate pacing and use of details. Readers will chuckle throughout this lengthy book, but it is not an essential purchase. Reviewer: KaaVonia Hinton-JohnsonSchool Library Journal
Gr 9 Up
Asian-American Albert Kim, 16, is extraordinarily successful at cultivating his status as "intentional loser." Having chosen against academic summer camp, he takes a cleaning job at a nearby inn. His coworker, popular and beautiful Mia, has recently ended her long-term relationship with lacrosse team star Ryan and is using her job as a distraction. Although communication between Albert and Mia is initially strained, their sleazy supervisor's rejected advances toward Mia and his attempt to fire her draw the teens together. Their newfound friendship turns to romance before summer's end, but Albert's social status at school puts a strain on the relationship. When Ryan is diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, Mia's constant support for him and his near-canonization make things even more difficult. Yoo deftly describes the charged emotions created when a popular community member is stricken by illness or injury; a candlelight vigil, fundraiser, and walkathon are poignant, comic, and unnerving. Although suburban high school life is expertly captured, the abrupt insertion of '80s and '90s pop-culture references detracts from the narrative. Mia might be a little too good to be true, but Albert is a funny, fascinating, and infuriating character. Laugh-out-loud moments and painfully realistic scenes of student life will hold readers' attention.-Jennifer Schultz, Fauquier County Public Library, Warrenton, VA