Publishers Weekly
05/17/2021
Noah Ramirez, a trans 16-year-old who is Japanese, Afro-Caribbean, and white, is spending the summer with his older brother, a college student in Denver, before moving from Florida to California. Noah plans to work on his wildly popular Meet Cute Diary blog, “designed to bring love to trans kids in need,” where he posts meet-cute stories. It’s his main focus in life, but it’s also fake: he writes all the posts himself, while letting readers believe they’re submitted anonymously. When an online troll catches on to Noah’s ruse, he and a handsome reader, cisgender Drew, who is white, fake the perfect relationship to prove the blog’s legitimacy. Through an unlikely friendship with sweet, grounded Devin, who is Cuban American, asexual, and experimenting with pronouns, Noah—initially self-centered and standoffish—learns to value communication and empathy, resulting in a satisfying character arc. It’s unclear why Noah’s having a boyfriend will persuade his audience of the Diary’s legitimacy, but plenty of humor and an honest portrayal of the hard work that a successful relationship requires buoy Lee’s hope-filled debut. Ages 14–up. Agent: Claire Draper, the Bent Agency. (May)
From the Publisher
A poignant, heartfelt story about the complexities of identity, growing up, and defining ourselves.” — Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures
"How lucky are we that this sweet, subversive, utter delight of a book exists? Meet Cute Diary is here to flip tropes and flip hearts." — Becky Albertalli, bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
"Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee unpacks how complicated and ever-evolving exploring gender can be against a fun backdrop of your favorite relationship tropes and teenage mishaps. The diverse cast of characters, pronouns and gender expressions creates opportunities for readers to finally see themselves represented in a book. It's abundantly clear that Lee wrote this story with love and tenderness for eir community. Meet Cute Diary is both about, and for, helping transgender youth feel connected, seen, and worthy of not just an epic meet cute, but a happily ever after.” — Aiden Thomas, Author of New York Times Bestseller Cemetery Boys
“Full of warmth, love, and hope, Meet Cute Diary is a groundbreaking book that we’re all lucky to have.” — Camryn Garrett, author of Full Disclosure
“Meet Cute Diary is the rom-com of my dreams! I’m over-the-moon excited for any and all readers, but especially those who are young, trans, and nonbinary, who’ll get to discover this hilarious, poignant story and fall absolutely in love. With a fast-paced, well-crafted plot that’ll have you itching to read the entire book in one sitting and a voice that’s chef’s kiss immaculate, this is truly one of my new favorite books of all time.” — Kacen Callender, National Book Award-winning author
"Don't say perfect romances don't exist, because there's one right in front of you!" — Mason Deaver, bestselling author of I Wish You All the Best and The Ghosts We Keep
“The perfect balance of adorkable and affirming, Meet Cute Diary is a sincere, uplifting debut. Emery Lee delivers a story bursting with joy, identity, friendship, humor, and the unexpectedness of first love. A necessity for romcom fans everywhere.” — Julian Winters, award-winning author of Running With Lions
“Adorable, heartfelt, and affirming, this is a must-purchase.” — School Library Journal (starred review)
“Loving and hopeful . . . A heart-swelling debut.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Plenty of humor and an honest portrayal of the hard work that a successful relationship requires buoy Lee’s hope-filled debut.” — Publishers Weekly
Aiden Thomas
"Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee unpacks how complicated and ever-evolving exploring gender can be against a fun backdrop of your favorite relationship tropes and teenage mishaps. The diverse cast of characters, pronouns and gender expressions creates opportunities for readers to finally see themselves represented in a book. It's abundantly clear that Lee wrote this story with love and tenderness for eir community. Meet Cute Diary is both about, and for, helping transgender youth feel connected, seen, and worthy of not just an epic meet cute, but a happily ever after.”
Kacen Callender
Meet Cute Diary is the rom-com of my dreams! I’m over-the-moon excited for any and all readers, but especially those who are young, trans, and nonbinary, who’ll get to discover this hilarious, poignant story and fall absolutely in love. With a fast-paced, well-crafted plot that’ll have you itching to read the entire book in one sitting and a voice that’s chef’s kiss immaculate, this is truly one of my new favorite books of all time.
Kami Garcia
A poignant, heartfelt story about the complexities of identity, growing up, and defining ourselves.”
Camryn Garrett
Full of warmth, love, and hope, Meet Cute Diary is a groundbreaking book that we’re all lucky to have.”
Becky Albertalli
"How lucky are we that this sweet, subversive, utter delight of a book exists? Meet Cute Diary is here to flip tropes and flip hearts."
Mason Deaver
"Don't say perfect romances don't exist, because there's one right in front of you!"
Julian Winters
The perfect balance of adorkable and affirming, Meet Cute Diary is a sincere, uplifting debut. Emery Lee delivers a story bursting with joy, identity, friendship, humor, and the unexpectedness of first love. A necessity for romcom fans everywhere.
School Library Journal
★ 05/01/2021
Gr 9 Up—Lee's #OwnVoices debut is a butterflies-inducing rom-com. Mere weeks after coming out to his parents, trans teen Noah Ramirez finds himself spending summer with his college-student brother in Denver. Surrounded by beautiful trees, mountains, and boys, Noah writes embellished trans love stories based on real-life encounters for his viral blog "Meet Cute Diary." A failed job interview reacquaints Noah with Drew (aka "Ice Cream Shop Guy"), who calls Noah out for featuring him on the blog twice. When Noah explains the truth about the blog, Drew agrees to pretend to date him—including taking photos—to help keep internet trolls at bay. Their pretending "for the Diary" quickly becomes real, but when Noah gets a job at a camp, he also grows close to his coworker Devin (who is nonbinary and asexual) and tensions arise. With his best friend and confidante Becca long-distance and MIA, what is a boy to do? Structured around Noah's "Twelve Steps to the Perfect Relationship" framework, Lee's writing smartly and reverently serves as a rom-com metanarrative. The characters are sharply drawn and their rich relationships run the gamut between familial, platonic, and romantic love. Though not without a few transphobic gaffes, the vast majority of characters notably accept and respect the fluidity of individuals' pronouns and identities. Noah is white, Japanese, and Afro-Caribbean. Drew is white and Devin is Cuban. VERDICT Adorable, heartfelt, and affirming, this is a must-purchase for all collections serving teens.—Alec Chunn, Eugene P.L., OR
Kirkus Reviews
2021-02-23
A transgender boy in love with the idea of falling in love charts a course for the ultimate relationship to save his viral blog from a troll attack.
Noah Ramirez, a Japanese, White, and Afro-Caribbean 16-year-old, is stuck in Denver with his college-age brother while his parents relocate from Florida to California. He plans to spend his summer exploring selfie-worthy shops as inspiration for his popular blog, a diary of clandestine, romantic, first trans love encounters. Reality hits him hard when his mom insists he get a job and a troll targets his blog with true accusations that his stories are fake. As Noah’s readership plummets, a seemingly perfect solution presents itself in the form of a gorgeous, White, cisgender boy who volunteers to fake date Noah in order to save the blog. Throughout the narrative, Noah demonstrates significant character growth: He begins the story naïve and self-absorbed but learns through his mistakes how to set boundaries, identify his needs in a relationship, and be a more supportive friend. The book’s explorations of gender identity and sexuality stand out for important representation of questioning and nonlinear self-discovery; one of the primary characters, an asexual, nonbinary, Cuban teen, tries out multiple labels and pronouns. High emotional tension and mounting stakes maintain a page-turning momentum. While the coming-of-age story awakens Noah to a less fluffy side of romantic relationships, the resolution is loving and hopeful.
A heart-swelling debut. (Fiction. 14-18)
