Page 12 of What I Like About You

3:52 PM

BECAUSE IT IS

3:52 PM

Samira Lee

BECAUSE IT IS

3:52 PM

Elle Carter

Well. Thank you. It actually might not be trash? Lilah thinks we can go on sub next month.

I send a string of screaming emojis, then thank Samira for the super-casual segue in our private chat. Amy and Elle frequently spiral into aKels + Nash = Endless Heartsrabbit hole. It’s pretty cringe-y, but at least Samira is always on my side.

Samira Lee

Totally natural segues are my specialty. See.

3:54 PM

My phone blows up again with twelve new pictures of Brooklyn.

Back in the group chat, the subject shifts.

Samira Lee

Wait. Kels. Have you heard from AG’s people?

4:01 PM

not yet!

4:02 PM

i’m stressed!!

4:03 PM

Elle Carter

Don’t stress! It’s PUBLISHING. So like. Expecting a response today most definitely means you won’t get one until next week.

4:03 PM

Elle is probably right, but I can’t focus on blog content now anyway, so I let my eyes wander to the shelves around me. I have a prime window seat in the YA section, which I finally found after climbing up a winding staircase and through a narrow corridor. I’ve been here a handful of times, only on the off chance that Grams didn’t have a book I was looking for, but the YA section is somehow smaller than I remember. Then again, it’s a small library. My eye lands on the first two books in a new epic fantasy series that Amy recommended to me, so I get up to grab them. Then I pause at theNEW AND NOTEWORTHYendcap,stalling. I know I should check these out and go home, but I’m not ready to go back to that house and face Gramps.

I sit down instead and refresh my email while the group chain fires away in the background. Still nothing.

Well, if I’m not leaving, maybe I can at least besomewhatproductive, with the promise of two new books to read as a reward. I minimize the group chat and reopen the article forTeen Vogue. It’s not due until next week, but I’m hoping to get a draft prepared before school starts. It’s a feature on Jewish YA—listing all my favorite books with Jewish protagonists, written by Jewish authors.

Ariel Goldberg is of course at the top of the list. Her twisty psychological thrillers star Jewish teens and her debut was the first time I feltseenin genre fiction. I want this article to help others feel that way too.

I put on headphones, play my #amwriting playlist on Spotify—a perfect combination of soft rock and acoustic covers—and find my rhythm in blurbing each book I’ve selected for the listicle.

“Hey. Mind if I sit here?” I barely notice the voice, but I do register the tall shadow standing above me.

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