Straight to the Source

I Kissed Shara Wheeler meets Last Night at the Telegraph Club in this stylish sapphic YA romance from the award-winning author of Bestiary.

Taiwanese American teen and aspiring journalist Wendy Lin wants nothing more than to witness the downfall of her personal nemesis, the annoyingly perfect high achiever Helen Ouyang. 

Yep, Helen Ouyang. As in, Wendy's childhood best friend. Now most-decidedly-ex-best-friend. Perhaps, maybe, still her unrequited-crush-friend. After a falling out that may or may not have involved some simmering romantic feelings, the two haven't spoken in years, and Wendy has had to witness Helen's meteoric rise to high school success from the sidelines. 

But not for long.

Chasing up a lead for the school paper, Wendy soon turns up a major story with Helen at its center—one involving a mysterious fire that destroyed a building and tore apart an immigrant community a decade earlier. Wendy investigates, certain she finally has the dirt she needs to bring Helen down. But when the girls reconnect, old feelings come rushing to the surface … and with them, long-buried skeletons in both girls' family closets.

"Chang’s strong suit is a commitment to portraying queer love as a game changer in a patriarchal society through women characters in a state of becoming. For them, transcending conformity is a no-brainer on the path to self-realization. An accessible queer rom-com for YA collections."—School Library Journal