The Art of Lainey

March 31, 2014
While working at her parents’ coffee shop, Lainey Mitchell is publicly dumped by her gorgeous long-term boyfriend, Jason, and she’s devastated. But her best friend Bianca has a plan: Lainey needs to let Sun Tzu’s The Art of War guide her efforts to win Jason back. When Lainey learns Jason that has already moved on with another girl, in an effort to “exploit enemy weaknesses” (namely jealousy) and put herself “in a position of power,” Lainey enlists the help of Micah, her mohawked, punk rocker, chocolate chip muffin–baking coworker. Micah has also been dumped recently, and getting his ex back is part of the plan, too. Stokes (who also writes YA as Fiona Paul) offers a summer romance between two people who couldn’t be more different and who, therefore, have plenty that’s new and exciting to offer each other. It’s a familiar rom-com setup that follows an expected trajectory (Lainey and Micah naturally begin to fall for each other) but a satisfying and sweet story, too. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

May 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-In a plot that serves as a modern mashup of classic teen movies, soccer prodigy Lainey is dumped by her "perfect" boyfriend at her family's coffee shop. Lainey and her friend use their summer reading, The Art of War by Sun Tzu, to hatch a plan to win Lainey's boyfriend back. When the plan calls for misdirection, Lainey needs a fake boyfriend. She and Micah, a prickly bad boy co-worker at the coffee shop, make a pact to pretend to date in order to make their exes jealous, and every reader can guess what happens by the end of the summer. The characters are straight from central casting (the shallow jock, the supermodel mean girl, the hippie mother who reads tea leaves), which is unfortunate, given the book's message to look beyond the exterior. The protagonist also lacks depth, which makes it difficult for readers to root for her. Despite the dearth of complexity in the characters, Stokes does a good job with the sports subplots as well as the familial relationships. Lainey is a driven athlete who focuses on her passion, which is a refreshing change of pace from many other heroines in the romantic realistic fiction genre. Lainey's family is supportive and candid, and Micah's sister is a good reality check for both main characters.-Susannah Goldstein, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 Lainey is crushed when her longtime boyfriend, Jason, abruptly dumps her. However, her best friend, Bianca, steps in with a copy of Sun Tzu's The Art of War and tells her to level the playing field. Preppy, sunny, soccer-playing, reality-TV-watching Lainey conspires with her coworker Micah, who is also pining for an ex-girlfriend, and they pose as a new couple. Micah, however, loves punk rock, wears a mohawk, carries a switchblade, and is into everything Lainey is not. The mismatched pair conspire to appear blissfully happy in public in order to win back their respective exes, using tips from Sun Tzu. Along the way, though, they struggle with new feelings that develop during their campaigns on the battlefield of love. Stokes' writing is as breezy as Lainey herself, and although readers will predict the ending relatively quickly, it won't stop them from enjoying Lainey and Micah's misadventures. Recommend this to fans of other lighthearted teen romances set against coffee shop backgrounds, such as The Espressologist, by Kristina Springer (2009), and Getting Over Garrett Delaney, by Abby McDonald (2012).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)