What happens after midnight

High schooler Lily is just 12 days away from the end of senior year when she receives a ransom-style note from anonymous classmate the Jester, inviting her to participate in the annual senior prank. After spending four years cultivating the perfect student persona--exacerbated by pressures stemming from her mother's teaching role at her Rhode Island prep school--Lily is excited to shake things up and agrees to help. The night of the secret rendezvous, Lily, along with other carefully selected seniors, learns that the Jester is Lily's ex-boyfriend Tag, a reveal that prompts unease in Lily. Tag informs the group that they're to steal an important item from narcissistic senior class president Daniel, who is also Lily's prom date, and send him on a scavenger hunt to find it. Armed with keys she stole from her mother, Lily pairs up with Tag to hide clues for Daniel around campus. As the duo dodge school security, faculty members, and fellow students out after curfew, old feelings resurface. Walther (The Summer of Broken Rules) fills this edge-of-summer rom-com with mischief and mayhem, delivering swift action and a swoony second-chance romance perfect for soon-to-be-grads suffering from senioritis. Ages 14--up. Agent: Eva Scalzo, Speilburg Literary. (June)

The senior prank at Ames, an upscale Rhode Island boarding school, reignites romance and conflict for Lily Hopper and ex-boyfriend Tag Swell. Their relationship lasted nearly two years before Lily broke it off. Her feelings for Tag remain intense--but so is her jealousy over his girl admirers, especially valedictorian Blair Greenberg, whom he dated next. After Tag and Blair's split, Lily keeps her distance until she's tapped to join the senior prank, an invitation that secretly comes from Tag himself. They are setting up student body president Daniel Rivera--whose promposal Lily regrets accepting--by hiding the new yearbooks he's scheduled to hand out in two days. Planting a trail of clues for Daniel across campus at night, Lily and Tag revisit their history and feelings; the one obstacle to their happiness was Lily's insecurity, the plot's linchpin. Athletic and an accomplished dancer, she's the class salutatorian and bound for Georgetown University, but attending Ames for free as the daughter of one of the most popular teachers on campus and surrounded by students who are far wealthier, she is acutely self-conscious of her "fac-brat" status, has always played it safe, and struggles with self-doubt. Rehashing their past through flashbacks, Lily faces difficult emotional truths. Tag's Type 1 diabetes is well described and woven into the story without being the focus of his characterization. Lily and Tag read White; surnames cue ethnic diversity in the supporting cast. An engaging story of personal growth and a second-chance romance. (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.