According to Plan

When a nonbinary, neurodivergent teen’s college plans are unexpectedly derailed, they’ll stop at nothing to get things back on track in this character-driven novel from Randall (The No-Girlfriend Rule). Kentucky high school senior Mal Flowers is distraught after the school lit mag that they edit, Collage, is canceled due to budget cuts. While Mal scrambles for a new extracurricular to pad their application to the University of Kentucky—which Mal and their soccer star sister, Maddie, dream of attending together—bubbly fellow lit mag colleague Emerson suggests that they team up to resurrect Collage as an underground zine. Despite initial resistance, Mal is soon swept up in both the project and Emerson’s increasingly frequent flirting. But when their grades begin to slide and they start missing Maddie’s soccer games, Mal’s relationship with their mother—who often dismisses Mal’s ADHD and learning differences—deteriorates. As Mal struggles to hold everything together, they find their goals for the future undergoing a radical, but not unwelcome, transformation. Though the romantic elements between Mal and Emerson are somewhat lackluster, readers will surely resonate with Mal’s organically rendered character arc and complex, relatable conflicts, beneath which lies a foundation of optimism and joy. Major characters read as white. Ages 14–up. (Feb.)