Better Off Friends

When Macallan is asked to show the new kids around on the first day of 7th grade, she is less than thrilled.  Levi is a typical California "surfer dude" with long blond hair pulled into a low ponytail.  However, she does her duty, as quickly as possible, and leaves him in his first class.  When she sees him alone in the cafeteria, she reluctantly invites him over to sit with her and her girlfriends.  This is when they realize they both love an obscure British show, Buggy and Floyd, and a solid friendship begins to form.  Macallan begins spending every Wednesday after school at Levi's house.  Her mom passed away, and Macallan quickly forms a much needed mother-type relationship with Levi's mom.  As the years progress, Macallan and Levi become inseparable, however, it is strictly platonic.  In fact, Levi begins dating Macallan's best friend, which does add some complications.  The book addresses the age-old question- Can a boy and a girl be strictly friends? 
I met this author at a conference and really liked her.  She is very friendly, energetic and had a great vibe about her.  She explained this book is based of the movie Harry met Sally, but for teenagers.  I'm not sure many of my students have seen the movie, but all the girls tend to love a good romance.  I thought the book started off very strong.  The story shifts between the point of view of Macallan and Levi, so the reader gets to see both sides of the story.  I really liked both characters and found myself hoping for the best for them.  There were some things that bothered me.  The book spends too much time in middle school, and the characters are way too advanced for that age.  I found that very hard to believe, they were just too mature for any 7th grader I ever met.  I understand the author was trying to build the importance of the realtionship to the characters, but I think it should have moved to high school a little quicker.  The story completely skips all of 9th grade, and most of 10 grade, so I think some of the plot could have taken place during that time.  I also hated, hated, hated the back and forth.  Sometimes one is in love with the other, and then vice-versa.  Again, this is happening in 10th grade, and I found so much of the deep emotional stuff hard to take, especially in a romance. I liked this book, and I would be interested in having a student read it to see if they have the same take as me.  I just found some of the plot points to be unbelievable.