*

Thanks to @librofm for providing me with a copy of this audiobook as part of their educator ALC program! Charming as a Verb by Ben Philippe is the kind of YA that reminds me why I love YA (the genre and the students). Teens get a lot of flack (much of it justified 🤣) but they are also brilliant, funny, incisive, and hopeful. Henri is a first gen Haitian American hustling his way through senior year at an exclusive prep school in New York. Just as he's about to see his hard work pay off, his carefully constructed facade beings to crumble. I loved so much about this book: I loved how in tune it feels with the issues facing so many young adults - the conversations about privilege and race and the future, about careers and relationships and family and the pressures of growing up part of the "O" generation (Oprah and Obama). I loved how present and supportive Henri's family is. I loved the friendships, and especially the relationship 😍 This book had all the elements of a 90s high school movie (think She's All That, which gets a shout out in the book 🤣) but funnier and much more socially aware. I was so invested: laugh-out-loud-alone-in-my-car and yelling-at-fictional-chatacters kind of invested. I have my fingers crossed that @netflix will adapt this one soon, because it was - dare I say it - absolutely charming. 😝 via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/CGzrbITAzyd/