TALK NERDY TO ME

Fans will be thrilled with this third installment in the Bookish Boyfriends series that focuses on brainy Eliza and her intellectual equal.

In the first two books, it was the Campbell girls who fell under the spell of Ms. Gregoire’s English class and found romance. But Eliza has absorbed the evidence her scientist parents provided demonstrating that dating is detrimental for adolescents. Or is it as she fears: that she is not lovable? Her parents are always off on research expeditions, monitor her actions from afar, and do not prioritize emotions. Eliza knows rationally they must care about her, but the lack of warmth and affection she feels becomes painfully clear when Eliza begins to identify with Frankenstein’s monster, an outcome Ms. Gregoire may have feared when she tried to steer Eliza away from using the book for the class project. Eliza switches to another book, Anne of Green Gables. As Eliza relates to Anne, she wonders if class clown Curtis is her Gilbert. Readers will be charmed by Curtis’ gentle consistency and Eliza’s confusion as her feelings change from combative to happy. As Eliza develops in confidence, her relationship with her parents improves, too, allowing her to finally feel settled. Eliza and most main characters are white; Curtis is biracial (white/Egyptian).

Sure to leave romantics with an afterglow.