Lola and the Boy Next Door

July 25, 2011
Like its predecessor, Perkins's companion novel to Anna and the French Kiss has snappy dialogue and sexy love interests, though high-school junior Lola is a much more unconventional heroine. With an array of wigs and costumes at her disposal (her outfits include an Egyptian-inspired gown made from a sheet and a cheetah-print number adorned with red ribbons and brooches to protest game-hunting), she has no interest in blending in. As Lola begins her junior year, her goals are to get her fathers to approve of her 22-year-old boyfriend, Max, and to create a masterpiece Marie Antoinette costume for the winter dance. But complications arrive when Cricket Bell moves back next door. Two years ago he broke her heart, and seeing him again shakes her faith in her relationship with Max. What's a girl to do when two guys are into her? Lola indulges her inner angst plenty, but her self-deprecating sense of humor and Perkins's skill at capturing Lola's seesawing emotions make for a lively romance about a girl trying to understand who she is under all the gowns and glitter. Ages 14âup.

Starred review from January 30, 2012
With two dads, a tattooed rocker boyfriend five years her senior, and a penchant for over-the-top fashion, Lola Nolan is not your average teenager. But as she struggles with the everyday issues of family, friendship, school, work, identity, and determining the difference between love and lust, Lola proves a realistic character with which young adult listeners will easily relate. With a 17-year-old narrator, snappy dialogue, and more than a dozen main characters, narrator Shannon McManus has a daunting task on her hands; however, she is up to the challenge and her reading proves truly exceptional. McManus creates fully realized voices for the book’s entire cast—from Lola, her two dads, and her two loves, Cricket the scientist and Max the rock star, to her snobby neighbor, her socially awkward best friend, and her deadbeat birth mother—infusing each character with subtle nuances and never resorting to stereotype. This winning performance makes for a fun, engaging audio experience. Ages 14–up. A Dutton hardcover.