“And We’re Off” by Dana Schwartz

A work can lose a lot of balls in its juggling act and still work if it throws the remaining balls in impressive fashion. "And We're Off" posits itself as "the Gilmore Girls go on a tour of Europe", but Lorelai is ditched at the author's convenience to justify Rory's cavalcade of bad decisions. Schwartz, fortunately, has a strong and appealing writing voice, injecting her material with enough energy that it is tempting to complete its 200+ pages in a single sitting. Not the best YA book of 2017, but it'd have a better chance in a less competitive year.

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