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Reviewed by: Diana Luce, High School Librarian Title: Not If You Break Up With Me First Author: G.F. Miller Publisher: Aladdin
Year: 2024 Good for Grades: 5-8 Genre/Type of Book: Realistic Fiction
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: parents fighting, some middle school low-brow humor (fart jokes, etc) Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: I am always on the lookout for age-appropriate books about dating for my romance-loving middle schoolers. If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be: Eve is dating her best friend…now how does she get him to break up with her? |
Review:
Eve and Andrew are best friends and have been forever. Now they are in 8th grade and things feel…different. Suddenly everyone around them is boy-crazy/girl-crazy, but Eve and Andrew aren’t sure they are ready for any of that. After Eve bows to peer pressure and asks Andrew to the 8th grade dance, suddenly everyone assumes they are a couple. How awkward! They both want things to go back to normal, but neither wants to be the bad guy and do the breaking up. Both decide the best thing to do is to make the other one break up with them and they go to increasingly extreme lengths (often involving their friends) to get the other one to crack. What could possibly go wrong?
This book perfectly captures those middle school years when kids are dealing with crushes, puberty, and lots of overwhelming feelings. This book is a precursor to traditional romance stories where miscommunication leads to utter chaos and hurt feelings. Initially, many of the tricks they played on each other made me laugh out loud (the first half of this book is funny), but as the book progressed, it felt sadder and sadder as their friendship suffered. Additionally, a major sub-plot is Eve’s parents and their constant fighting, which took a real toll on Eve throughout the novel and made her estrangement with Andrew all the worse.
This book would be an excellent choice for a middle school student who loves to read about drama and dating, but is not ready for more mature content (the two main characters decide they are much better as friends). I feel like this book would be a very easy sell to students and many would relate to its characters and themes. I would highly recommend this book for a middle school library.
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