Winner Take All

October 23, 2017
Darker and weightier than many stories about rivals falling in love, Devore’s second novel draws a blurry line between honest emotions and calculated moves. Although they are both top students at their prestigious private school, Jackson Hart has several things that Nell Becker, the principal’s daughter, lacks—namely wealth, status, and a carefree attitude that makes getting to the top look easy. Jackson has always been serious-minded Nell’s nemesis, but their relationship changes during the spring of their junior year, when Nell finds that she has more in common with Jackson than she thought and stops denying her physical attraction to him. Knowing Jackson has used other girls, Nell is determined not to lose control of her feelings, viewing their flirtations as a game she intends to win, but victory comes with a higher price than she anticipates. The pace is somewhat slow, but Devore (How to Break a Boy) offers an in-depth examination of the protagonists’ complicated psyches and less-than-perfect home lives. Its hard-hitting message about the pressures placed on teens to succeed will be relevant to many readers. Ages 17–up. Agent: Diana Fox, Fox Literary.

December 1, 2017

Gr 10 Up-Nell Becker always plays to win, no matter what the competition. She's determined to prove her right to attend Cedar Woods Preparatory Academy by outperforming the best and brightest, not to mention wealthiest, of the student body. If her mother wasn't headmaster, her family could never have afforded to send her to the exclusive school. Her mother is a role model who never misses an opportunity to remind Nell of her high expectations.. Trailing Nell by a tenth of a grade point is her chief competition for valedictorian, Jackson Hart. Despite his imperious attitude, Jackson's wealth and striking good looks have earned him a place as every teacher's pet. Nell could swear she's never seen him crack open a textbook. He has become an obsession for her; the ease with which he aces every test, the never-ending train of girls who fall for his lies, the way he constantly baits her with arguments she can't possibly win. There is no passion greater than her hatred for Jackson Hart-until Jackson begins to unexpectedly confide in her, and that passion takes a 180-degree turn. Devore has written her protagonist as driven, selfish, and, at times, totally despicable. Jackson, by contrast, seems the more affable character. But, a clever plot twist reveals just how quick we are to judge the behavior of girls more harshly than that of boys. VERDICT With an unsettling heroine who will challenge readers' perceptions of strong, competitive female characters, this is a winning choice for YA collections.-Cary Frostick, formerly at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2017
Competition drives a young woman who falls into an intense relationship with her nemesis at their moneyed private school.As the school year comes to a close, intelligent, uncompromising Nell, the highly pressured daughter of the first female head of school at Cedar Woods Prep, contends with anxiety attacks as she juggles a demanding academic schedule with volleyball, where she strives to be the best player despite her teammate and best friend Lia's love for the game. Wealthy Jackson is her closest rival for valedictorian, and his careless, calculated charm galls her to her core. Class dynamics, family dysfunction, and, especially, gender disparity are intricately explored in this complicated, engrossing novel. Though readers will see the explosive romance that develops between Nell and Jackson coming a long way off, its obsessive nature is nevertheless startling, and the depiction of the way her sexual assertiveness is eventually played against her is heartbreakingly real. As the author mentions in an endnote that also includes a list of websites that provide mental health information, Nell is not always likable, which will distance some readers. However, hers is an experience that will resonate strongly with others. Nell, Jackson, Lia, and her brother are white; there are secondary characters who are black, Asian, and Latino.An unrelenting, incisive look at one young woman's highly pressurized world. (Fiction. 14-18)

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December 1, 2017
Grades 10-1 Nell Becker is at the top of her class, but she didn't get there by slacking: at school and at sports, she works hard, sometimes pushing herself to the point of panic attacks. Infuriatingly, Jackson Hart, the effortlessly cool, charming rich boy who trails just behind her in rankings doesn't seem to have to work for it at all. Amidst the tense politics of their affluent town and the pressures from their elite prep school, Nell and Jackson orbit each other, and their rivalry develops into an intense physical relationship, and then perhaps something else. But Jackson's motives aren't always clear, and for Nell, emotions will never be as important as winning. Soon their relationship, never the healthiest, spirals out of control. Nell, tightly wound, abrasive, and often self-involved, manages to be both unlikable and entirely sympathetic, and her relationship with Jackson shines a stark, startling light on the differences that boys and girls face in today's society. A take-no-prisoners look at the dark side of competition.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2019
As a middle-class student at an elite prep school, Nell Becker competes hard to stand out in sports and academics. Nell eventually lets her guard down enough to hook up with Jackson Hart, her closest academic competitor, but their promising relationship takes a toxic turn. Nell is a self-assured, sex-positive romantic lead for this biting drama with messages about gender double standards and female empowerment.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)