Twelve Long Months by Brian Malloy

Molly has had a major unrequited crush on her chem lab partner for ages, and when he plans to move to New Jersey to work for his uncle as a house-painter, she is delighted that he will be so close to her in NYC where she will be attending Columbia Univ. However, Mark is non-committal about hanging out, other than to ask if he can occasionally crash in her dorm room if he's in the city too late to catch the last train. Molly soon finds out that Mark is gay and is heartbroken and angry, although Mark had never led her on. Her new girlfriends urge her to be his friend, and she finally comes around. She eventually starts dating another physics major, Simon, only to have Simon fall in love with Mark!

While this is another in the genre of girls bemoaning the fact that the boys they like turn out to be gay, there is better character development, and the strength of the friendship of Molly and her two girlfriends who always make time for each other despite their romantic relationships is a nice change.

*** Recommended


Scholastic, 2008     ISBN  043987761X