A teen romcom with a lovable main character who you'll want to stick by, even as she makes some big mistakes.

WHAT IT'S ABOUT: High school junior Twinkle is in a pickle:
- Her BFF has been hanging out with the (rich) elite in town, making T wonder whether they're still BFFs
- Her longtime crush makes her so swoony, she becomes an absolute fool when he enters the room
- Both of them live in a world where only the kids from the wealthiest families get spotlights and important party invites, but Twinkle's family can barely afford to send her to the special magnet school they all attend together and she feels so unseen that she's not sure whether a spotlight could even find her if it tried

Twinkle decides that if she can find a way to get into that group of elites, she'll get her BFF back and maybe even get a bit more backing to her lifelong dream of becoming a famous (female, brown-skinned) filmmaker. When her crush's geeky twin brother suggests he produce a film Twinkle directs for their high school's upcoming festival, she sees this as her big chance to do what she loves while rubbing elbows with the crowd she longs to be a part of.

This roller coaster of a story is carried forward through Twinkle's eye-opening journal entries to her favorite female filmmakers and a smattering of emails, plus some group texts between her new producer and his best friends.

WHAT I THOUGHT: I was a BIG fan of Menon's first novel, When Dimple Met Rishi (like, heart-eyes, floaty-head charmed in love with that book), so was excited to see my library had this one in its New YA section. I wasn't sure how it'd hold me with the journal-entry format, but I ended up really liking how it got me into Twinkle's head--and her film producer Sahil's.

I was expecting another adorable romcom full of giggles and swooning, but what I got was a fantastic balance of that with the brutal truth of how we make mistakes when we're 16/17 years old, trying to figure out what we want and how to get there. Twinkle is passionate about storytelling on film, and that carried over to her filling in the blanks as the relationships around her shifted during her mission to get some spotlight. Why does her BFF pull away some days and act so thoughtful on others? Why do the elite welcome one facet of her but not all of her? What should she do about her budding attraction to Sahil when there are other options that align better with her dreams, most notably his superstar of a twin brother? Do her parents even remember that she exists?

Here's the thing that impressed me: when things got ugly as Twinkle propelled into the thick of figuring out these questions, the author did such a good job of making us understand how that could happen that we don't close the book in frustration or disappointment (I mean, we are reading a romcom, right?). We really don't know how things will turn out, but continue hoping for the best through the very last page.

And, yes, I had tears in my eyes as I closed the last page. You'll have to read it for yourself as to know which kind, but I bet you'll be glad you turned every page to get your answer.

Ages 13 and up.

(Teen, Fiction, Contemporary, Romantic Comedy, Self Esteem)