If you still recognize me

Debut author So tenderly celebrates friendship, fandom, and family in this fervent second-chance-romance. Eighteen-year-old childhood best friends Elsie Lo and Joan Tse haven't spoken to each other since Joan moved to Hong Kong seven years ago, until a serendipitous encounter reconnects them in their Oxford, England, hometown. Though she's eager to "just wave away those years" when she didn't hear from Joan, Elsie wrestles with feelings of abandonment and awkwardness as the two relearn one another. Elsie, who is only out as bisexual to close friends, has also been hyping herself up to confess her love for her longtime online pen pal Ada, a fanfic writer. Recruiting her best friend Ritika and publicly out lesbian Joan to help, Elsie embarks on a trip to perform a grand romantic gesture for Ada. Too little planning as well as tensions surrounding old hurts obstruct the teens' goals, but new perspectives and shared moments of pathos bring them together. Dialogue-heavy interactions and a leisurely buildup--crafted with depth, nuance, and care--center a memorable cast and warm depictions of connection. Main characters read as East Asian. Ages 14--up. (May)

It's the summer before she starts university, and a comic enthusiast from Oxford, England, has plans. In addition to a vacation with best friend Ritika Ghosh, Elsie Lo is finally going to confess her feelings for Ada Hobbs, her long-distance crush and online fandom friend who has a Black Nigerian mum and a White English dad. Things start to shift when Elsie runs into Joan Tse, the childhood BFF who ghosted her years ago. The two start chatting, rekindle a friendship, and come out to each other as lesbian (Joan) and bi (Elsie). Elsie shares her plan to try to reunite two long-separated women--probably lesbian lovers, one of them Ada's grandmother. She hopes this grand romantic gesture will impress Ada. Joan is game to join in, and the Cornwall vacation with Ritika turns into a three-person research trip. This ambitious novel has many threads, including an epistolary element and multiple romances, and it doesn't always come together. The relatively deep backstories--Elsie is also the survivor of an unhealthy relationship--and numerous key characters make for a slow start. Still, Elsie's search for an older generation of queer women even as she grapples with her own challenging grandmother gives the story momentum and depth, and her journey to finding love, her people, and herself rings tender and true. Both Elsie's and Joan's families are from Hong Kong; most major characters are people of color and/or queer. A worthwhile celebration of love and second chances from a fresh voice. (Romance. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.