Amelia Westlake Was Never Here

March 15, 2019
Opposites attract in this story of pranks, justice, and hate-to-love romance.Harriet Price and Will Everhart feel like they're worlds apart despite being in the same year at the same prestigious girls' private school. Harriet is well-off, a prefect, and a tennis champion obsessed with not rocking the boat. Will is fiery and rebellious, a middle-class student who resents the establishment. When they witness a coach yet again sexually harassing students, however, the duo surprise themselves and decide to team up to take action. Working secretly under the pseudonym Amelia Westlake, the pair starts with a series of school newspaper comics satirizing the school's sexism and general complicity. They build momentum with larger-scale pranks that further their message, growing closer as they do so. As their hoax grows bigger and bigger, the two must decide what they're willing to risk--friendships, girlfriends, expulsion--to further the legend of Amelia Westlake (and their relationship). Harriet's and Will's characterizations sometimes fall flat, and their alternating first-person narrations sound less distinct than might be anticipated. Their romance is well-paced and satisfying. Emotional abuse, heterosexism, and racism are all touched upon in the narrative but are secondary to the skewering of sexism and institutional hypocrisy. The majority of characters are white, although a prominent secondary character is first-generation Vietnamese-Australian.Imperfect but empowering. (Fiction. 12-18)

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June 14, 2019

Gr 7 Up-Elite private school students Harriet Price and Will Everhart could not be more different-Harriet must constantly maintain her image as the perfect student and athlete while Will has a history of agitation and troublemaking. When they land in detention together after witnessing their swim coach's inappropriate and sexist behavior, they start publishing cartoons under the pseudonym Amelia Westlake, exposing examples of the systemic injustice running rampant at their school. Amelia's cartoons and other acts of protest ripple throughout the school-making other students feel uncomfortable at the minor acts of defiance, or giving them the courage to find their own voices and speak out against the power imbalances in their school. This is a funny romantic comedy that takes the "opposites attract" trope and sets it against a background of playful and subversive feminist protest reminiscent of Jennifer Mathieu's Moxie, Adrienne Kisner's Dear Rachel Maddow, or E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. What makes this novel stand out is the attention to character development and the attention paid to the various ways teens are expected to live within the boundaries created by adults. VERDICT The variety of social pressures that Harriet and Will struggle with will resonate with readers who find themselves pulled in a dozen different directions by the expectations of parents, peers, teachers, and social norms.-Erin Downey, Boise School District, ID

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2019
Grades 9-12 Rosemead is an elite private girls' school, known for the caliber of its students and faculty alike. Wilhelmina Everhart, however, knows the truth; it's not achievement that Rosemead values, but money. Harriet Price is one of Rosemead's stars?a wealthy, academically overachieving tennis champ with a perfect girlfriend and bright future?and she's exceptionally loyal to the school. But when she and Will (not fans of each other) witness their swim coach cross the line with another student, even Harriet has to admit something must be done. The school turns a blind eye to the inappropriate behavior, so Harriet and Will go guerrilla, creating an imaginary student they name Amelia Westlake, who pulls provocative pranks to shine a light on the imbalances at Rosemead. An unlikely duo from the start, Harriet and Will find themselves in uncharted territory when?horror of horrors?they start to fall for each other. With its enemies-to-lovers romance and its ethical core, this Australian import gives readers plenty of high-stakes drama. A vigilante justice story with a moral compass and a tender heart.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2019
Amelia Westlake is not a real person, but she is the most respected and popular student at the prestigious all-girls Rosemead School. Amelia is born when the unlikely duo of wealthy, rule-following Harriet Price and outspoken social justice activist Wilhelmina (Will) Everhart create a cartoon exposing their coach for sexual harassment. After the cartoon is pseudonymously published in the school paper, Amelia Westlake becomes a sensation. As Amelia continues to orchestrate pranks designed to uncover Rosemead's injustices, her creators, who previously felt only disdain for each other, grudgingly acknowledge their growing mutual attraction. In the alternating-narrative chapters, Harriet's voice is amusingly formal (in Will's words, a prime suck-up ), while Will's is sharp and sarcastic. Harriet eventually recognizes her privilege, while Will learns to be vulnerable. The pranks pulled in Amelia's name are creative, funny, and satisfying. They aren't always victorious?after that first cartoon, the principal investigates Amelia's identity rather than the allegations against the coach?but they do effect change. By book's end, when the entire student body unites to defy the administration and stand up for Amelia Westlake, readers will be applauding her, too. rachel l. smith

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

July 1, 2019
Amelia Westlake is not real; she's "born" when rule-following Harriet and outspoken Wilhelmina (Will) create a cartoon exposing their prestigious school's coach for sexual harassment. As "Amelia" orchestrates creative, funny pranks to uncover injustices, her creators acknowledge their growing mutual attraction. In alternating-narrative chapters, Harriet's voice is amusingly formal; Will's is sharp and sarcastic. By book's end, readers will applaud Amelia along with the students.

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