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More information about CCBC Choices book recommendations
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute
CCBC Review:
Celine Bangura and Bradley Graeme, Afro-British teens living in Nottingham, are former best friends who fell out in early adolescence. From Celine’s perspective, Brad rejected her for popularity. From Brad’s, he just wanted to branch out socially. Now in their last year of high school, both have been selected for a program that offers participants professional networking opportunities, with one winning a scholarship at year’s end. Celine is fierce and funny but emotionally guarded because of her lawyer dad’s abandonment of their family; sharing her true feelings and trusting people is hard. Brad’s life appears effortless on the surface, but he’s quietly battling the buzz in his brain from his OCD with the help of therapy, and doubting his dream to become a writer—a dream he can’t find the courage to share with his own lawyer father. The enrichment program includes two camping expeditions, and as they engage in tasks requiring cooperation and teamwork, as well as creative thinking, leadership, and resilience, Brad and Celine learn about themselves, each other, and how they each perceive what happened in the past. And they fall in love. This entertaining romance is elevated by the thoughtful development and individual growth of each of the two protagonists. ©2023 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 13 and older
Age Range:
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
Afro-British
Camps and Camping
Competitions and Contests
Cooperation
Friendship
Love and Romance
Mental Health and Illness
Diversity subject:
Black/African
LGBTQ Character/Topic
Psychiatric Disability/Condition
On CCBC Booklist:
Game On! Books About Games and Gaming
Publishers:
Random House, Joy Revolution
Publish Year: 2023
Pages: 319
ISBN: 9780593482339
CCBC Location: Fiction, Hibbert