First published 2018
Noah has struck out three years running. He and his best friend Walt get cut from the baseball team again, and Sam treats him like a brother despite his years-long crush. Walt refuses to accept defeat. He drags Noah to his cousin Floyd at Dairy Queen for dating advice and makes him listen to the Woohoo Woman Podcast. At a thrift shop, Noah finds a vintage bag stuffed with 1960s love letters. Walt sees opportunity. He pushes Noah to use the letters as templates for anonymous notes to Sam. While Walt trains hard and impresses the baseball coach, Noah pours his heart into secret messages. The old letters teach him about love and jazz and help him find his own voice. Both boys start gaining confidence. But their rising fortunes trigger events that challenge everything Noah believes about love, friendship, and destiny. Written in free verse, this story follows two teenagers learning to take chances and discover who they really are.
Genres: romance, coming-of-age, contemporary, young-adult
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, friends-to-lovers
448 pages · Hardcover · Clarion Books