Crash Test Love

Henry Arlington is a self-confessed ladies' man (his personal rules include "Never tell a girl your real name" and "No hos before bros"). But all it takes is a chance encounter with knockout new girl Garrett, and he is contemplating breaking another rule—no girlfriends. Their relationship evolves in alternating firstperson chapters; Henry becomes more sympathetic as it becomes clear that his attitude toward women stems from abandonment by his mother, though his love of film (evidenced mostly by conversations that appear in screenplay format) feels as artificial as the incorporation of song titles and lyrics into Garrett's narration—"Then my thoughts turn to Ben and ‘The Day We Fell Apart' (Kelly Clarkson, 2009)." The secondary characters, from the J Squad clique to Henry's oafish cohorts, never amount to more than stereotypes. Still, the emotional intensity—sometimes passionate, sometimes tender—that develops between Garrett and Henry should help some readers care about them enough to want to find out whether, against the odds, they can make their love work. Ages 14–up. (June)