Planning Perfect

by Haley Neil

Overview

In this charming, heartfelt YA romcom about being on the asexual spectrum, a girl tries to craft the perfect wedding for her mother but discovers that sometimes the best parts of life can't be planned.

Felicity Becker loves watching an event come together. Whether it's prom, graduation, or just the annual Arbor Day school dance, there's something magical about crafting an experience that people will remember. So when her mom gets engaged, Felicity sees the wedding as the perfect opportunity to show off her skills.

After Felicity's long-distance friend Nancy offers up her family's apple orchard as a venue, wedding planning gets even better. But the more time Felicity and Nancy spend together dress shopping and hunting for just-right mismatched china, the more it starts to seem like there might be something besides friendship between them. Felicity isn't sure how she feels. As someone on the asexual spectrum, what would dating even look like for her? And would Nancy be open to dating when Felicity doesn't even know what she wants from a relationship?

Suddenly the summer is a lot more complicated. Especially when Felicity finds out that one of the wedding guests is an event planner with a prestigious internship available. Can Felicity wrangle her irresponsible mom, juggle her judgmental grandmother, figure out her feelings for Nancy, and plan the perfect wedding? Or will all of her plans come crashing down around her?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781547607495
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	02/14/2023
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	146,493
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Haley Neil is the author of Once More With Chutzpah and Planning Perfect, and a recent MFA grad from The New School, where she specialized in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She previously obtained her Masters in Education while working full time as a preschool teacher. She loves school, teaching, and going to school to learn about teaching (as well as walking her rescue pup through her Massachusetts town and working at her local library).
Haleyneil.com
Twitter: @haleyeneil
Instagram: @haleyeneil

Editorial Reviews

01/09/2023

Sixteen-year-old Felicity Becker, who’s Jewish and white, dreams of becoming a highly sought-after event planner in this gleeful rom-com. When her original strategy to become president of her school’s event organizing committee are derailed, Felicity, hoping to impress the internship panel at a top event coordinating agency, endeavors to organize her flighty, social butterfly mother’s wedding. Contending with her mother’s lackadaisical attitude regarding nuptial arrangements and Felicity’s increasingly emotionally withdrawn bestie, Felicity finds stability and companionship in Swedish and Korean American friend Nancy Lim, who offers her family’s Vermont apple orchard as a wedding venue. Over the course of Felicity’s preparations, she spends more and more time with Nancy outside of wedding planning, swimming in a quarry and creating their own mini-golf course, forcing Felicity to navigate a burgeoning understanding of her sexuality amid matrimony-related turmoil. Chapter titles counting down the days until the wedding lend urgency. Via overwrought emotional conflict, tidy resolutions, and Felicity’s approachable, comedic narration, Neil (Once More with Chutzpah) deftly examines challenges surrounding dating and sexuality, intergenerational friction, and mental health. Ages 12–up. Agent: Lauren Spieller, Triada US. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

A deeply touching narrative about embracing mess in order to reinvent ourselves for the better.” —Jean Meltzer, Author of The Matzah Ball and Mr. Perfect on Paper

“This is a tender, lovingly depicted capture of self-discovery and dating while asexual—one that is infrequently portrayed for readers of any age.” —Booklist, starred review

“A sweet and charming book with a slow-burn romance and relationship at its center.” —School Library Connection

“A sweet, feel-good, coming-of-age rom-com with satisfying character development and deeply insightful, much needed ace representation.” —School Library Journal

“Neil deftly examines challenges surrounding dating and sexuality, intergenerational friction, and mental health.” —Publishers Weekly

“An engrossing, emotionally dynamic coming-of-age story.” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

02/01/2023

Gr 7 Up—Aspiring event planner Felicity Becker, Jewish and 16, doesn't manage stress well. She just lost the election for Social Friends Committee President to her nemesis Brody Wells (described as having darker skin and cornrows), which is obviously disastrous for her future. Now she's desperate to make up for it by taking control of planning her mother's wedding and using the event as an audition for a prestigious internship with one of the guests. Her long-distance friend Nancy (who is biracial Korean/white, Swedish, and queer) offers her aunt's orchard as a venue, and they embark on a summer of wedding planning together. While Felicity anxiously fixates on work, Nancy tries to teach her letting go and having fun throughout the summer. Both are figuring out their feelings for each other. Felicity knows she's somewhere on the asexual spectrum, and wonders if Nancy would accept that in a partner. It's a sweet, feel-good, coming-of-age rom-com with satisfying character development and deeply insightful, much needed ace representation. Religious traditions and family culture are represented throughout, including the wedding, which mixes the Jewish and Catholic traditions of the bride and groom. VERDICT A solid purchase for YA collections.—Kayla Fontaine

School Library Journal

2022-11-16
Felicity Becker lives for rules, organization, and Pinterest vision boards until her carefully charted path to the future falls out from under her.

Ever since her freshman year, the White, Jewish Boston 16-year-old has devoted all her time and energy to the Social Friends Committee, helping to plan school events so that she can win the election for Junior Committee President, get accepted into a good college, and ultimately pursue a successful career. However, when she loses to laid-back lacrosse player Brody Wells, her archnemesis, she feels like her dreams are crumbling. Now Felicity’s aspirations depend on planning the perfect wedding for her cheerfully chaotic mom so that she can impress one of the high-powered guests and secure an internship at New England’s top event management agency. The wedding presents another unexpected opportunity: spending the entire summer with Swedish and Korean American Nancy Lim, the long-distance friend she met at a symposium for queer teens. Nancy invites Felicity to use her family’s Vermont apple orchard as a destination wedding venue. In the midst of relationship-centered conflict, Felicity grapples with her ace-spectrum sexuality, her deepening feelings for Nancy, insecurities about her personality, and her overwhelming anxiety. An important aspect of her satisfying character growth comes from learning to let go of her shame around accepting help. High emotions and an impending deadline drive the story at a fast pace that fits Felicity’s character.

An engrossing, emotionally dynamic coming-of-age story. (Romance. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews