Make the Fireflies Dance

When an unknown boy surprise-kisses aspiring auteur Quincy Walker, 17, in a dark movie theater, she determines to uncover his identity in this madcap rom-com by Bateman (Someone Else’s Summer). Driven by her desire to have a picture-perfect date for the upcoming prom and certain that she’ll recognize him if she kisses him again, Quin launches Operation Mystery Kisser, which involves her asexual best friend Naosie setting Quin up on blind dates with all the boys who were at the theater that night. The scheme is a perfect distraction from Quin’s orbiting personal challenges, including graduation-related anxiety, stress over making and submitting her first full-length feature for a student film festival, and grief over her mother’s death. Operation Mystery Kisser is complicated, however, when Ezra—Quin’s childhood best friend and former crush—reenters her life. Quin’s risk-averse first-person POV often feels at odds with the narrative’s devil-may-care interpretation of the instigating event, raising questions of consent. Still, Quin’s hopeless-romantic nature and her passion for film prompt her to pursue new experiences and take chances, presenting a thoughtful depiction of a teen embracing change. Main characters read as white. Ages 13–up. Agent: Liza Fleissig, Liza Royce Agency. (May)