"Entertaining and compassionate, with a strong narrative voice, this will be a reassuring tonic
to tweenagers who are confused about who they really like."
Inclusive and radiant with authentic emotions, Maggie Horne’s Noah Frye Gets Crushed is spot-on in its portrayal of friendship and trying to figure out who you are and who you like as it evokes all the uncertainties around first crushes.
Self-professed science camp nerd Noah has decided to keep her confusing feelings secret from her best friends Luna and Zoey. But when Zoey insists, “You can’t hide your secret love forever,” Noah feels compelled to declare she’s into Archie from school. What she really wants to tell them is that she made friends with an amazing girl called Jessa at science camp, and her biggest hope is that “my camp best friend and my real-life best friends could all meet and become one super-mega best friend. The dream”.
At things turn out, Jessa does join their group, but while Noah gets close to Archie, her emotions are thrown into turmoil when she realises her feelings for Jessa might be more than friendship.
Gripping and true-to-life as it follows Noah’s courageous journey to understanding her feelings and navigating her way to knowing who she is and who she likes, Noah Frye Gets Crushed is super-cute and super-joyous.
Best friends Luna and Zoey can’t stop talking about boys and kissing, but Noah just wants everything to go back to the way it was. To fit in, Noah pretends that she likes Archie, a boy from school, even though she’s not quite sure. When new girl Jessa joins their group things get even more confusing.
Can Noah admit to herself who she really likes, not who she thinks she should?
'Friendship, family, falling in love… is it meant to be this complicated? A quirky, gorgeous, addictive story!' - Cathy Cassidy
'Such an important story about emerging feelings of sexuality and not going along with the crowd that will resonate with and reassure so many young readers.' - Tamsin Winter
Author
About Maggie Horne
Maggie Horne is a writer who grew up near Toronto, Canada. She now lives in the UK with her wife, where they keep a collection of dogs and children. She is the author of books for middle grade and young adult readers. Her first novel, Hazel Hill is Gonna Win this One, was a 2023 LGBTQ+ Middle Grade Lambda Literary Award finalist and a Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts (NCTE) nominee.
