Today Tonight Tomorrow

Gr 9 Up–It’s the last day of senior year and Rowan is awakened by a text from her nerdy nemesis, Neil. Their epic rivalry has spanned all four years of high school and both of them hope to be awarded the coveted title of valedictorian. When Rowan gets salutatorian, she vows to best Neil one last time at Howl, a senior class scavenger hunt. But they team up after overhearing their peers strategizing to take them down. As Rowan and Neil work together, their rivalry begins to give way to friendship and, to no one’s surprise but their own, romance. Told from Rowan’s perspective and featuring ephemera from her high school journey, this story is equal parts coming of age, tender romance, and a love letter to Seattle. Rowan and Neil’s banter is sharp and their clever solutions to the scavenger hunt move the story along at breakneck speed. Featuring a racially diverse cast, the story does a great job of balancing the action with important discussions about how damaging stereotypes can be. Readers bear witness to Rowan’s defense, as an aspiring writer, of the romance genre in the face of backlash from her friends, family, and her rival.