Brian Malloy

She loves him.

He loves her not.

Molly Swain is hopelessly in love. Mark is broody, mysterious, funny, attractive, artistic - basically the only interesting thing in her small Minnesota town. She wonders to herself if they'll ever be more than lab partners...until the fateful day that she discovers they'll both be moving to New York City after they graduate. Clearly, they're meant to be together. Right?

Wrong. In Minnesota, Mark has a secret. And in New York, Molly discovers it. Not only is she not his type, she's not even the right gender. But does she immediately fall out of love with him? If only life were that easy...

A smart, funny heartfelt novel about falling in love with someone who will never feel the same way - and how to recover with your pride, hope, and friendship intact.

A Summer 2008 Book Sense Pick: "This heartfelt, funny, and surprising teen novel follows small-town Molly as she heads for college in New York City and learns that her permanent crush, a handsome, artistic boy, is interested in finding a boyfriend of his own. Molly's story is all about bouncing back, stretching her wings away from home, and finding that even cloudy heartbreak can hold the silver lining of new friendship."

2009 Minnesota Book Award winner for young people's literature.

Gr 8 Up–Molly is soon to be high school valedictorian in her small town of Le Sueur, MN. She is a genius at science, hopelessly unpopular, and desperately in love with her angsty and mysterious lab partner, Mark Dahl. At first, it appears that he only pays attention to her when he needs to copy her chemistry test answers, but when she announces that she’ll be attending Columbia in the fall, Mark starts to take an active interest in her, knowing that he will be living in nearby New Jersey. Life in New York City is a completely different world for Molly. She has two loyal and loving dorm mates who make it their mission to help her come out of her shell. So when Mark asks the new-and-improved Molly if he can crash in her room one night, she thinks that they will finally have their romantic moment. Then she learns that Mark is gay. Although she is crushed at first, the teens are able to build a strong friendship. This breezy novel chronicles the 12 months from graduation to the end of Molly’s first year in college. Lovable characters and fun scenarios keep the story moving, and more serious issues regarding the difficulties of coming out elevate this novel from being pure chick lit. Readers are left with the message that the love of a true friend can be just as meaningful as the love of a boyfriend.– School Library Journal

A self-described “fool for possibilities,” Molly is elated when, first, she is accepted to Columbia and, second, her lab partner—tall, sleepy-eyed Mark, on whom she has a major, though unrequited, crush—announces he, too, is moving to New York. Will all her dreams come true? In a word: no. Because it turns out Mark is gay, but, still, there’s Columbia and a new friend, Simon, who shares Molly’s passion for physics. There is even a shaky friendship with Mark until he betrays Molly in the cruelest way possible. Or does he? Mark and Molly are appealing, well-realized characters struggling to find love and, believably, not always succeeding...the thematic treatment of the many meanings of love is successfully and even subtly handled, inviting thought and discussion. - Booklist