April 7, 2026 by Shadow Mountain
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Madeline and Cooper are seniors in high school, and have a long standing feud going on that leads them to dramatically sabotage each other. After Madeline steals Cooper’s clothes from the locker room and leaves him a clown costume instead, Cooper retaliates by having his friends relocate her Miata under the bleachers. This brings the two to the attention of principal, Ms. Tsuru, who is tired of the antics, which have included leaving meat in a locker and a glitter bomb. Madeline’s father and Cooper’s mother are called to the office, and the two pranksters have to work together on painting the faded tiger tracks in the parking lot. Since both parents are divorced (Madeline’s mother moved to Norway for her career, and Cooper’s father is working on an Alaskan oil rig) and know each other from the spin class the mother teaches, they decide to go out to dinner to discuss their errant children. The two do talk while they are painting, even though there is a rather epic paint battle, and get to the root of the problem; Cooper commented that Madeline got starring roles in the plays because her father donated money to the school, and Madeline retaliated by sharing an unflattering football video of Cooper. Both admit to being wrong, and have an uneasy truce. This is disrupted when they find that their parents are dating, and they figure this must be stopped. Cooper’s sister Claire rather likes Madeline and her father, but Cooper comes up with a good idea: he and Madeline should pretend to date, because then their parents wouldn’t be interested in each other. Madeline agrees, and the two have to navigate Cooper actually dating a girl named Dahlia, making their parents believe they are dating, and dealing with the football team and Madeline’s friend Selena. On the night of Homecoming, Madeline is out with the rather unpleasant TC from another school, and he hits a stray cat who has been hanging around the school. Madeline is upset, but TC won’t take the cat to the vet. Luckily, Cooper’s friend group happens by and stops, and Cooper not only hands over hsi suit jacket to protect the injured animal, but goes with Madeline to the vet. The two have been dancing around their attraction to each other, and finally admit that the two of them should be together, to the surprise of absolutely no one.
Strengths: There have not been enough books from Rallison lately; I adored her 2008 Revenge of the Cheerleaders, 2009 Just One Wish, and 2010 My Double Life! She does an excellent job of writing about high school characters who are still interesting to middle school students. Such books were more prevalent 15 years ago; now young adult books include a lot more mature language, drinking, and other questionable choices. I would not have found these enjoyable as a teenager. While I am not personally a fan of the “enemies to lovers” trope, I know a lot of people are, and Madeline and Cooper’s journey to one another is very sweet. There’s some “practice” kissing that is totally middle grade appropriate but also rather thrilling. There are humorous moments, but also good lessons about how teens should act towards one another. Dahlia could have been a completely evil character, but is portrayed with a little bit of sympathy, and TC is unfortunately a type of guy that readers may encounter.
Weaknesses: It would have been fun if the parents had still gotten together. Younger readers won’t care, but it would have made for a fun complication for Madeline and Cooper. It was nice to see parents involved with high school students, showing up at games and taking them out for ice cream.
What I really think: This is exactly the type of book my readers have been wanting to read this year, so I will definitely purchase a copy, and am dusting my older titles off and making sure they get some circulation. Glad to see this author back! Fans of Kasie West, Sarah Dessen, and Lynn Painter will enjoy this title.
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Madeline and Cooper are seniors in high school, and have a long standing feud going on that leads them to dramatically sabotage each other. After Madeline steals Cooper’s clothes from the locker room and leaves him a clown costume instead, Cooper retaliates by having his friends relocate her Miata under the bleachers. This brings the two to the attention of principal, Ms. Tsuru, who is tired of the antics, which have included leaving meat in a locker and a glitter bomb. Madeline’s father and Cooper’s mother are called to the office, and the two pranksters have to work together on painting the faded tiger tracks in the parking lot. Since both parents are divorced (Madeline’s mother moved to Norway for her career, and Cooper’s father is working on an Alaskan oil rig) and know each other from the spin class the mother teaches, they decide to go out to dinner to discuss their errant children. The two do talk while they are painting, even though there is a rather epic paint battle, and get to the root of the problem; Cooper commented that Madeline got starring roles in the plays because her father donated money to the school, and Madeline retaliated by sharing an unflattering football video of Cooper. Both admit to being wrong, and have an uneasy truce. This is disrupted when they find that their parents are dating, and they figure this must be stopped. Cooper’s sister Claire rather likes Madeline and her father, but Cooper comes up with a good idea: he and Madeline should pretend to date, because then their parents wouldn’t be interested in each other. Madeline agrees, and the two have to navigate Cooper actually dating a girl named Dahlia, making their parents believe they are dating, and dealing with the football team and Madeline’s friend Selena. On the night of Homecoming, Madeline is out with the rather unpleasant TC from another school, and he hits a stray cat who has been hanging around the school. Madeline is upset, but TC won’t take the cat to the vet. Luckily, Cooper’s friend group happens by and stops, and Cooper not only hands over hsi suit jacket to protect the injured animal, but goes with Madeline to the vet. The two have been dancing around their attraction to each other, and finally admit that the two of them should be together, to the surprise of absolutely no one.
Strengths: There have not been enough books from Rallison lately; I adored her 2008 Revenge of the Cheerleaders, 2009 Just One Wish, and 2010 My Double Life! She does an excellent job of writing about high school characters who are still interesting to middle school students. Such books were more prevalent 15 years ago; now young adult books include a lot more mature language, drinking, and other questionable choices. I would not have found these enjoyable as a teenager. While I am not personally a fan of the “enemies to lovers” trope, I know a lot of people are, and Madeline and Cooper’s journey to one another is very sweet. There’s some “practice” kissing that is totally middle grade appropriate but also rather thrilling. There are humorous moments, but also good lessons about how teens should act towards one another. Dahlia could have been a completely evil character, but is portrayed with a little bit of sympathy, and TC is unfortunately a type of guy that readers may encounter.
Weaknesses: It would have been fun if the parents had still gotten together. Younger readers won’t care, but it would have made for a fun complication for Madeline and Cooper. It was nice to see parents involved with high school students, showing up at games and taking them out for ice cream.
What I really think: This is exactly the type of book my readers have been wanting to read this year, so I will definitely purchase a copy, and am dusting my older titles off and making sure they get some circulation. Glad to see this author back! Fans of Kasie West, Sarah Dessen, and Lynn Painter will enjoy this title.
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