GOING BICOASTAL

Narrator Mara Wilson is Jewish, bisexual, and bicoastal--just like the main character in this YA rom-com, Natalya Fox. Natalya must decide between a summer with her mom in Los Angeles, interning alongside a cute boy, or staying in New York with her dad and finally talking to the redheaded girl she's been crushing on. What if she does both? Chapters shift between these alternating choices to see how her summer would turn out in each scenario. Even though Wilson solidifies the characters' voices in the first chapter, the large cast and continual shifts in setting can still be disorienting for the listener. Nonetheless, Wilson matches the energy of a teen and maneuvers smoothly through the many Yiddish words and foods from various cultures. S.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2023]