Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel

Farizan, Sara. Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel. Algonquin Young Readers, 2014.

Leila, a junior at a private high school, knows that she's a lesbian, but she already feels like an outsider because she's Persian, so she chooses not to stir the waters further by coming out to her friends or family. But when she develops a crush on a new girl at school and thinks that the feeling might be mutual, she begins to wonder if other people in her school have as much going on beneath the surface as she does.

This book has high school drama written all over it. Bullying, people of various ethnicities, people of varying orientations, cliques, late-night parties, etc. etc. Some of the drama crew are expected to be lesbians, although they later admit to the very naive Leila that they aren't. Leila has her heart broken. Leila picks herself back up and keeps going. While this book doesn't have the complexity that older teens would crave in a story, younger teens and tweens would enjoy it. The content, however, might cause some parents/teachers to pause before offering this book as an option for students.

Recommended for: teens, fans of chick lit,

Red Flags: sex, drugs, and alcohol; homophobic slurs

Overall Rating: 4/5 stars