Review: Meet Cute: Some People are Destined to Meet by various authors

Meet Cute is a collection of short stories featuring couples as they meet for the first time. Each story is vastly different, from a girl who meets her distant crush only to find out he's the son of the man who destroyed her family, to the girl whose challenging client at her new job turns out to be another teen with her same interests and passions. The stories span genres and styles, including a science fiction story about two teens interviewing for a spot to travel to Mars, and one featuring a futuristic dating app with a nearly perfect success rate. The stories also feature a variety of couples, including same sex couples and a couple that includes a transgender teen, as well as a wide variety of people from different races, backgrounds, and religions.

Straight Talk for School Librarians: There are occasional references to teenage drinking, but overall, the volume is relatively tame and could be appropriate down to the middle school level. Romance fans will go crazy for this set of tales, with the only possible complaint being that each story fades to black just as the characters are coming together.  It's the meet cute moments that the volume focuses on, after all.  But all of the slow-burning build-up to the romance is here, the primary topic of each story. This collection might have some potential in a family and consumer science class, like Contemporary Relationships, but is most likely to appeal as a choice novel for students. The short story format may make this volume appealing to busy or reluctant readers, who will appreciate the ability to jump in and out of the stories quickly, or skip over a story that is less appealing. This is a much more representative and modern collection of romantic short stories than one published even five or ten years ago. Your students deserve an upgrade.

by Bethany Bratney @nhslibrarylady
Author Twitters: @nina_lacour, @jocelyndavies, @emerylord, @katharinemcgee, @kassmorgan, @sarabooks, @NicolaYoon, @ibizoboi, @andimJULIE
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt @HMHteen