HOW TO MEET CUTE BOYS

Is it a book? Magazine article? Well, it’s a first novel by the West Coast editor of Elle and it’s a little of both.

Numerous quizzes in hot-pink sidebars accompany a girl-meets-boy story with the usual twists and turns. Benjamina Franklin (her parents were potheads, and the name stuck) meets him at a party and . . . Ohmigod! His clothes are ironed: Does that mean he’s gay? No. Max is fabulously heterosexual and even owns a successful skater-dude clothing company. Ohmigodohmigod! He says all the right things, at the right time. He just might be the Mr. Right that Ben, a trendy-magazine writer, is looking for. Not that she’s isn’t totally heartbroken over boyfriend Ashton, even though they broke up forever ago (like two whole months). But her younger sister Audrey just got engaged all of a sudden and is about to set a date, even shop for wedding dresses, though this is so not fair. Mom, known as The Mother, prattles on about white lilies this and china pattern that, oblivious to her older daughter’s emotional pain when Ben finds the perfect dress for her perfect sister. Ben does not go gently into that good dressing room, however. Their smart-mouth antagonism is the most original—and funniest—part of this otherwise totally familiar story. But there’s more. Kizis deftly skewers LA celebrities and the publicity party scene, throwing in some priceless one-liners about the perils of modern dating to boot. As for Mr. Right, well, Ben worked in a bar once and she knows a fake ID when she sees one. Alaska doesn’t do laminated licenses, and how old is Max anyway? Twennnnttty? Come on, do the math. When she saw the first Star Wars, Max was an embryo. Ohmigod . . . .

Cheerful fluff with some genuinely poignant moments and a very appealing heroine. Sharpen your eyebrow pencil and take those funny quizzes.