We Got the Beat

Following an inseparable summer before freshman year, Jordan Elliot came out as a lesbian to her best friend Mackenzie West, who subsequently dropped her. Now a high school junior, aspiring journalist Jordan is in her element and ready to take the school newspaper by storm. Except she doesn’t get named editor-in-chief like she was hoping for. Worse still, she’s covering the girls’ volleyball team, which Mack just became captain of. Regardless, Jordan is determined to put her all into her assignment—she’ll go to the games, learn the rules, and hang out with the team to make her reporting more authentic, just like any good journalist would. As she spends more time with Mack, however, Jordan starts catching glimpses of her old friend beneath the popular girl facade. But finding their way back to each other means confronting why Mack stopped being her friend in the first place. A sluggishly paced plot offers few surprises, but characters with affable personalities and Jordan’s endearing self-confidence as both a journalist and a proud fat teen put a positive spin on this enemies-to-lovers romance by Miller (Out of Character). Jordan and Mack read as white. Ages 13–up. Agent: Michaela Whatnall, Dystel, Goderich, & Bourret. (Feb.)