Jesse's Girl

Gr 9 Up—Seventeen-year-old Maya was just voted out of her band and dumped by the guy she was sort of dating. Since she quit her school's choir and is phobic about solo performances, the teen no longer has an outlet to perform the music she loves. To add to her misery, Career Shadow Day is coming up and Maya is paired with her high school principal's nephew and Nashville's teen country music star, Jesse Scott. Despite Maya's lack of interest in country music, Maya respects Jesse's talent and is eager to learn from him. However, her hopes quickly disappear when Jesse treats her like an annoying groupie. Reluctantly, the pair agree to Shadow Day, which turns out to be an adventurous departure from their prescribed schedule. Jesse and Maya are surprised by the potential for a friendship as they share their dreams, fears, and past heartbreaks. The romantic attraction is palpable but is clouded by their insecurities and different lifestyles. They both are at a crossroads in their lives, and their struggles prove to connect them in surprising ways. A few frank sexual comments keep this squarely in high school collections. Maya's internal monologue is often pedestrian and the characters are stock. But the plot is so comfortingly predictable that readers will race to the end to devour every bit of the delicious fairy tale romance.