Lose you to find me

Rising senior Tommy questions whether his long-held goals are really what's best for him. After working at Sunset Estates retirement community as a server for nearly three years, Tommy asks Natalie, his manager, for a recommendation to prestigious culinary school La Mère Labont, where he would follow his late father's interrupted dream to become a chef. In her typical sadistic fashion, Natalie sets Tommy three tasks to earn her approval, including training new server Gabe, Tommy's childhood crush. Though Mexican and Venezuelan American Gabe initially doesn't recognize Tommy, who is implied White, the two connect and start flirting. The existence of Gabe's boyfriend and Tommy's occasional, emotionally unavailable, closeted hook-up partner complicate their potential relationship, however. Traumatic homophobic events from Gabe's life occasionally punctuate the otherwise lighthearted yet sympathetic atmosphere; narrated through Tommy's perspective, they represent tonal shifts that are not entirely smoothly integrated. The quips Tommy shares with Gabe as well as best friend and co-worker Ava, who is Black, and Sunset Estates residents and queer elders Al and Willa (both read White) make the short chapters fly past, engrossing readers in the clever repartee without diluting the genuine affection the characters share. An undertone of anxiety grows as college application deadlines approach and Tommy questions what he truly wants in life and what assumptions he's made, grounding this story in reality while maintaining a hopeful outlook. Snappy banter among a vibrant cast makes for a charming read about finding who and what really matters in life. (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.