Once Upon a Twilight!: Nina LaCour

You Know Me Well
Author: Nina LaCour & David Leviathan
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary, LGBT
Released: June 7, 2016
Review Source: St. Martin's Griffin

Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really?

Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed.

That is, until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.

When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other—and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.

Told in alternating points of view by Nina LaCour and David Levithan, You Know Me Well is a story about navigating the joys and heartaches of first love, one truth at a time.

You Know Me Well is two stories wrapped together in a way that is new and unexpected to both Kate and Mark, a senior and junior in high school, respectively, who have sat next to each other all year in math but have never said one word to each other. This whole story spans one week, and what a week that is, full of surprises, self-discoveries, and a whole lot of challenges.

Kate is finally going to meet the girl of her dreams, a girl she had been pining for for so long that now that the moment was so close, she wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it except terrified. Mark is at his first ever gay club with his still-in-the-closet best friend who he may or may not be completely in love with and is trying in a way that isn't really trying, to get him to see that. And it's on this night, when Kate is terrified and confused that she ends up leaving her friends and girl of her dreams, to wander around and entering the bar that Mark and his best friend are at, although neither of them knows. Their friendship begins in a totally random but totally genuine way and the way they just click and are there for each other from the beginning is incredible to read about. Kate finds it so easy to open up about her fears to this new friend and Mark too, finds it easy to share his feelings about his love for a person who might not want it.

This is the story of two people who go on this epic journey of self discovery and find that maybe things aren't that bad after all. That there is the possibility of anything being possible if they let go a little and see the truth of that. Without giving too much away, there's a scene at the end, when all these people are together to celebrate the truth of themselves at the Pride Parade and that whole scene is written in a way that makes you feel like you're right there with them in the middle of all that beautiful chaos. It was refreshing and incredible to experience it. I highly highly recommend this book to anyone who's feeling a little lost or little scared, someone who wants to get lost in a story about love and friendship and the intricacies of both and how they come to you when you least expect them and need them most.

Everything Leads to You
Author: Nina LaCour
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: May 15th 2014
Review Source: Dutton Juvenile

A love letter to the craft and romance of film and fate in front of—and behind—the camera from the award-winning author of Hold Still.

A wunderkind young set designer, Emi has already started to find her way in the competitive Hollywood film world.

Emi is a film buff and a true romantic, but her real-life relationships are a mess. She has desperately gone back to the same girl too many times to mention. But then a mysterious letter from a silver screen legend leads Emi to Ava. Ava is unlike anyone Emi has ever met. She has a tumultuous, not-so-glamorous past, and lives an unconventional life. She’s enigmatic…. She’s beautiful. And she is about to expand Emi’s understanding of family, acceptance, and true romance.

Everything Leads to You was such a great read. It reminded so much when I was in high school and we did this intensive research. It was fun learning experience. And I felt this is how Emi felt as she researched the past to discover the truth.

Emi is not your typical girl. She has everything and she is not a spoiled brat. No, Emi has worked hard for everything she has accomplished. We all should be like her. I mean we should learn from her - to accomplish so much at such young age. To be driven at such young age. But what I love about Emi is that she is true to herself. She’s the type of girl that doesn’t care what people thing. She loves who she is and doesn’t care about if people talk about her. I also love how she is a foolishly romantic and falls in love easily. She’s such an amazing character. Struggling to get over another break-up form the same girl, her brother recommends Emi to do something fun this summer while he’s gone on a trip.

When Emi and her best friend discover a letter at a sale of a Hollywood film legend, they both decide to do the impossible. They decide to track down the mystery child of this legend mention in this letter. With intensive research and little clues they gather, they discover who the mystery child is.

Although the story was predictable, seeing Emi do something for fun was well, fun. She discovers a new love with Ava, the mysterious and unknown child. Emi is able to help Ava in many ways and their relationship blossom. Everything Leads to You is very sweet and fun. I recommend this to anyone looking for something to refreshing to read during the summer.

Nina LaCour talks about her inspiration for EVERYTHING LEADS TO YOU:

Writing a novel about two girls falling in love has been something I’ve wanted to do for a while, especially since I’m married to the girl I fell in love with when I was nineteen. But it wasn’t until I visited a high school in Minnesota and met with its GSA that I knew for sure it would be my next project. The teenagers I met made me understand how important it is to share stories about all kinds of love, and to show young people facing discrimination over their sexual orientation that there are places where they will be able to be open about themselves without fear, and people who will honor them for who they are, regardless of whom they love.

From there, the story grew to be about so much more: filmmaking, friendship, family, inspiration, Los Angeles, fears about life after high school, and the excitement of living on one’s own as a young adult. I thought it was going to be a simple love story, but the book had a mind of its own and became much more complex that I had imagined it would be. Still, the love is what binds everything together.

About Nina LaCour:

Nina LaCour (www.ninalacour.com) is the author of the award-winning Hold Still and widely acclaimed The Disenchantments. Formerly a bookseller and high school English teacher, she now writes and parents full time. A San Francisco Bay Area native, Nina lives with her family in Oakland, California.