Foolish Hearts

by Emma Mills

Overview

A contemporary young adult novel by Emma Mills about a girl whose high school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream leads her to new friends—and maybe even new love.

When Claudia accidentally eavesdrops on the epic breakup of Paige and Iris, the it-couple at her school, she finds herself in hot water with prickly, difficult Iris. Thrown together against their will in the class production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, along with the goofiest, cutest boy Claudia has ever known, Iris and Claudia are in for an eye-opening senior year.

Smart, funny, and thoroughly, wonderfully flawed, Claudia navigates a world of intense friendships and tentative romance in Foolish Hearts, a YA novel about expanding your horizons, allowing yourself to be vulnerable, and accepting—and loving—people for who they really are.

Praise for Foolish Hearts:

"Through . . . friendship struggles and romances old and new, Mills evokes the high stakes and vast rewards of trust, intimacy, and honesty." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

". . . the characters are wonderfully fresh and honest. Claudia narrates in funny, conversational first-person present as the plot meanders toward opening night of Midsummer, allowing time for Claudia's blooming relationships and self-confidence to develop. The course of true love never did run smooth, but in the case of these two lovers, the journey is worth your while." —Kirkus Reviews

". . . the backdrop of [Claudia's] school interactions, family events, (including her sister's dangerous premature delivery), gaming, part-time job, developing interest in a hot new band, and personal growth in her circle of friends is exceptional . . . " —School Library Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250180780
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	01/15/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	325,272
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	660L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Emma Mills is the author of First & Then and This Adventure Ends. She lives in Indianapolis, where she is currently pursuing a PhD in cell biology.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Foolish Hearts:

"Through . . . friendship struggles and romances old and new, Mills evokes the high stakes and vast rewards of trust, intimacy, and honesty." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

". . . the characters are wonderfully fresh and honest. Claudia narrates in funny, conversational first-person present as the plot meanders toward opening night of Midsummer, allowing time for Claudia's blooming relationships and self-confidence to develop. The course of true love never did run smooth, but in the case of these two lovers, the journey is worth your while." —Kirkus Reviews

". . . the backdrop of [Claudia's] school interactions, family events, (including her sister's dangerous premature delivery), gaming, part-time job, developing interest in a hot new band, and personal growth in her circle of friends is exceptional . . . " —School Library Journal

This Adventure Ends:

"Immensely enjoyable." —Booklist

"Mills (First & Then) seamlessly creates art imitating life imitating art while bringing freshness to the familiar romantic conventions she invokes. With taut, realistic dialogue, she expertly crafts blossoming friendships and nascent romances." —Publishers Weekly

First & Then:

“With sporadic references to Jane Austen's famous characters and wickedly inventive language, Mills closely observes the social milieu of an American high school. . . . A fresh, smart, inventive, and altogether impressive debut.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

From the Publisher

★ 10/09/2017
“Redemption arc?” asks Claudia’s best friend, Zoe, curious about Claudia’s unexpected new friendship with Iris, her private school’s class president and infamous mean girl. It all starts when Claudia is forced to spend time with Iris for a class project, just as Iris is reeling from a breakup with her longtime girlfriend, Paige. Claudia discovers that Iris is more complicated and vulnerable than everyone assumes, and the evolution of their relationship—from enemies to intimate friends who respect and rely on each other—is compelling and real. Mills (This Adventure Ends) thoughtfully explores the nuances of all kinds of relationships, both friendly and romantic, via Claudia and her circle of friends. Also in the mix: Zoe is falling in love with Claudia’s brother, Iris longs to get back together with Paige, and Claudia faces her own insecurities and hopes for a romance with popular Gideon. Through these friendship struggles and romances old and new, Mills evokes the high stakes and vast rewards of trust, intimacy, and honesty. Ages 14–up. Agent: Bridget Smith, Dunham Literary. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

09/01/2017
Gr 8 Up—Claudia is at the last party of the summer before senior year when she overhears the breakup of two girls and finds herself on the wrong side of prickly student Iris, who is difficult and knows just how to use her words as knives. Claudia herself has recently gone through a breakup with a young man who explains that he just "feels regular" with her (no sparks) and she has no desire to expose herself to any sort of further romantic drama. And yet drama is where she lands when she and Iris both have to work on the school's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream along with increasingly attentive, cute as a button, goofy Gideon. While Claudia's developing romance with Gideon is textbook high school hyperbole, the backdrop of her school interactions, family events, (including her sister's dangerous premature delivery), gaming, part-time job, developing interest in a hot new band, and personal growth in her circle of friends is exceptional and drives the story forward on a level beyond the average derivative teen novel. VERDICT Purchase where Shakespeare-centered and theater-inspired books, and Mills's earlier titles circulate well.—Susan Riley, Mamaroneck Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

2017-08-27
In Mills' (This Adventure Ends, 2016, etc.) latest, the beginning of senior year leads to new friendships and new love. When Claudia accidentally overhears the breakup of Iris and Paige, Prospect-Landower School for Girls' "cutest couple," no-nonsense Iris threatens to ruin her. Instead, Claudia and Iris strike up an unlikely friendship after a failed group project forces them to participate in the school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Iris is Chinese-American, the other primary characters ambiguously described, suggesting a white default. Claudia, who previously hadn't bothered to make friends outside her childhood bestie, Zoe, begins to open herself to her peers. Chief among them is outgoing, kindhearted Gideon, a student at nearby all-male Danforth Prep. Even when Claudia lets herself believe that Gideon may actually be interested in her, a previous breakup makes her hesitant to pursue a new relationship ("It's just easier to never start something than to have to see it end"). Unfortunately, the story follows the tired popular-boy-falls-for-unpopular-girl trope; otherwise, however, the characters are wonderfully fresh and honest. Claudia narrates in funny, conversational first-person present as the plot meanders toward opening night of Midsummer, allowing time for Claudia's blooming relationships and self-confidence to develop. The course of true love never did run smooth, but in the case of these two lovers, the journey is worth your while. (Fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews