I’ve had this one on hold at my library for a couple of months, and when I finally got a copy I devoured it in a couple of nights. Then I check CBR to see who else had reviewed it, since I assumed one of y’all’s recommendations led to my placing a library hold. Surprisingly, no one else here has reviewed it — I guess because it actually just got released a few weeks ago. I’m thinking I must have grabbed it off a “books coming out this fall you must read” list or something. Anyway, it’s really, really good YA — like, in six months everyone will be telling you to read it. So, you heard it here first, folks!
So Weird Girl is Lula, and What’s His Name is Rory. They’re best friends, attending high school in a shitty little town in North Carolina where their X-Files loving selves stick out like sore thumbs. Both of them come from messed up homes — Lula lives with her grandparents, as her mother abandoned her years ago to become an actress, and Rory lives with his drunk of a mother. They’ve bonded over their love of Sci-Fi, geek culture, and especially, The X-Files. Then they have a falling out — Lula discovers that Rory has been having an affair with his much older boss, and also that he tried out for football without telling her. Distraught, Lula disappears — leaving Rory behind to figure out what happened.
It kind of feels like a John Green novel, although there’s (thankfully) less chasing-after-the-girl stuff going on here. Everyone pretty much figures out where Lula’s gone, and Rory simply learns to live without her. Then she comes back, and they have to try to figure out how to rebuild their incredible friendship. There’s a lot of other plotlines, too. Rory’s gay, which he and Lula both knew, but Lula’s really confused about 1) her feelings for Rory, and 2) her own sexuality. And Lula has a lot of family dynamics to work through, too. It sounds intense, and parts of it are, but there’s a lot of humor and X-Files references, too. Definitely a good read.
