Josie doesn't like change. So when her sister Kate announces she's going to marry Geoff, Josie immediately tries everything to alienate him. But she also becomes curious about the nature of love and, with the help of her friends and family, tries to understand it. The highlight of this effectively drawn, often funny novel is its smart, precocious, and irrepressibly inquisitive protagonist. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

It's refreshing to meet a character so cracklingly smart that you wish you could actually buy her a coffee and just hear her jabber. That's Josie, the main gal in the latest from Cahan (I Now Pronounce You Someone Else, 2010). Josie loves languages learning actual ones as well deciphering the lingo she hears bantered among other 16-year-olds at her high school and the community college where she and her best friend (and fellow smartie) Stu take classes. For Josie, understanding nuances in how people communicate is an obsession, though she's still mastering the skill. For example, she can't comprehend what her beloved sister, Kate, sees in her zero of a fiance or how to find a common tongue with her fetching linguistics professor, and she feels stifled speaking to the nearly mute guy she's seeing. With impeccable clarity and hilarity Josie explores how magical things left unsaid can be and how even a native tongue can be full of meaning and surprises. This clever read will satisfy fans of Rainbow Rowell, John Green, and Stephanie Perkins.--Walters Wright, Lexi Copyright 2014 Booklist

Fifteen-year-old Josie Sheridan may have a genius-level IQ, but that doesn't mean she understands everything. One concept she has trouble grasping is romantic love, especially when it comes to her older sister Kate's inexplicable attraction to her nerdy librarian fiance, Geoff. Josie is sure that Geoff is completely wrong for Kate, but persuading her sister of this truth before the wedding is proving a tall order. Meanwhile, Josie is sorting out her own relationships with the opposite sex, including her prom date, Stefan, who thinks he "could fall in love" with her; her 26-year-old sociolinguistics instructor, Ethan, on whom she has an enormous crush; and her best friend Stu, who perhaps understands her better than anyone. McCahan's (I Now Pronounce You Someone Else) sharp-witted first-person narrative will keep readers laughing as they get acquainted with Josie, a self-proclaimed "inveterate" over-thinker. Josie's analytical mind, singular perspective, and numerous idiosyncrasies (like her anxiety over a loose thread: "What if it doesn't come out in one try but gets longer? What if it puckers?") are both endearing and representative of her deeper worries. Ages 12-up. Agent: Faye Bender, Faye Bender Literary Agency. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Gr 8 Up-Josie Sheridan, 15.4 years old, knows a lot about social language. With a schedule that involves both high school and college courses, she has learned to adapt her communication style in order to fit in with both groups. However, Josie can't seem to wrap her head around the language of Love. To the precocious teen, all-consuming love is scientifically impossible. Her best friend, Stu, is the "love 'em and leave 'em" type, and her school friends make lists of the guys for which they could fall. When her older sister Kate gets engaged, it only furthers her misunderstanding of the matter. The protagonist finds Kate's fiance to be intolerable and makes it her mission to break them up. Meanwhile, Josie attempts to decode the meaning of love for herself and see just what all the fuss is about. At times, the narrator can be pedantic, stubborn, and borderline unlikable. Despite that, readers who persevere will find that underneath that serious exterior is a regular teen muddling her way through finding her first love. Kate, the persistent romantic, is on the warpath to foist her ideals of wedded bliss onto her younger sister who staunchly defies her at every turn. What follows is an all-out war of words where the only solution is for the siblings to find some sort of common ground. These coming-of-age moments add a nice bit of heart to Josie's journey. Give this to cerebral teens who want a quirky love story.-Kimberly Castle-Alberts, Hudson Library & Historical Society, OH (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.