FML by Shaun David Hutchinson (review)

As spring break of his senior year draws to a close, seventeen-year-old Simon Cross has a choice: finally take his shot at winning the heart of his suddenly single long-time crush or force himself to move on and give another girl a chance. The different choices lead to very different consequences, though, and over the course of two alternating plotlines, this novel explores where Simon's diverging paths as a result of his decision might take him. Both lead in due course to the biggest party of the year, where Simon's night quickly devolves into a series of misadventures. Suddenly he's confronting a crazy ex-girlfriend, saving an unsuspecting freshman from a drink worse than death, playing a few unwise rounds of beer pong, and meeting a strange new girl and her ugly blind dog. As Simon navigates his two possible realities with the help of his two best friends, he learns that all roads might just lead to the same girl after all, just not the one he thought. Replete with every teen-movie plot convention imaginable, this split-narrative storyline nevertheless provides charming, rowdy, over-the-top fun. The hijinks are just crazy enough to be entertaining without becoming fully unrealistic, and readers will enjoy watching the same events unfold in different ways as Simon's decision ripples out to those around him. Readers with lovelorn memories will relate to Simon's romantic singularity of focus, while those less enamored will find kindred spirits in his sympathetic but exasperated friends who are fabulous in their own right. Familiar yet somehow fresh, this novel is the perfect fit for anyone looking for a little vicarious experience with drunken, lightly debauched chaos by the pool this summer.