My Mechanical Romance
by Alexene Farol Follmuth
High School    Holiday    272 pp.   g
5/22    978-0-8234-5010-7    $18.99

When a teacher takes note of newcomer Bel Maier’s natural talents in science and pushes her to try out for the school’s robotics team, high-school senior Bel—who is less ­interested in academics and college plans than many of her ­classmates—is wary but gives it a shot. She gets off to a rocky start with the team lead, wealthy, beloved school jock Teo Luna, when she criticizes the design of the robot created for competition, but it doesn’t take long for the two to begin collaborating and develop feelings for each other. The lack of support from the team advisor and overt misogyny from competitors are frustrating forces that test Bel’s self-confidence as a girl of color in STEM. This lively teen romance, with alternating narration from Bel and Teo, is packed with humor as well as tender moments, while also reflecting common anxieties around graduating high school. The characters’ multiracial and multicultural family contexts (Bel’s family identifies as “half Filipino”; Teo has Mexican and Jewish heritage) are naturally integrated. Though Bel is unsure of her future plans, she solidifies her friendships, familial and academic support, and most importantly, trust in herself.

From the July/August 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.