Kris Dinnison’s premise in You and Me and Him is very possible in any high school around the world today, which is what kept me anticipating how the conflicts would be tied up.  Unfortunately, for this reader, the ending is where it falls apart.  “You” refers to Nash, the gay best friend of “Me”, Maggie.  Nash and Maggie have been besties since their preschool years.  Dennison captures the voice of a frustrated gay student quite well.  And it complements that of Maggie, who is overweight and proclaims from the opening sentences “I am not one of those shrinking-violet fat girls.  I don’t sit alone in my bedroom playing Billie Holiday albums while drowning my sorrows in a carton of ice-cream.”  But Maggie needs a Nash so together they can survive being slight outcasts in their teenage years.  Along comes “Him”, or Tom, a new kid who is drawn to Maggie and Nash his 1st day.  Tom is considered a hottie—to both Nash and Maggie. Nash calls dibs and Maggie will try to avoid the obvious sparks that fly, but there will be drama and some passionate kissing. No sex.

I really liked each of the characters independently through 3/4 of the book, though I felt an editor could have encouraged less description of cookie eating after the 1st encounter.  But I don’t feel Tom got a fair shake at the end.  There weren’t enough shady comments or actions on his part to get the ax that he did.

Besides that, this colorfully covered novel will give colorful insight into the complexities of teen life today.  With a western Washington setting, schools up and down the Puget Sound corridor might especially like this pick.