It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on October 1, 2017
ISBN: 0358172063
Genres: Realistic Fiction, Romance
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High schooler, Audrey WInters is coming off a painful break up and has sworn off romance, as well as drama club, for a part time job at the local cinema where she meets Harry.  As she plays the support role at home to her mother, who cannot come to grips with her bitter divorce, Audrey falls for Harry the local “player” who seems to live for flirting and getting high.  Her brother and her close girlfriends try to warn her against becoming involved.  This new, exciting and sexy relationship tests her perceptions of romance, friendship and personal integrity. Audrey’s school research project on romance movies and her role as the zombie bride in Harry’s film-making sideline provide the vehicles for a discourse on the types of romance, attitudes about sex and learning how to be true to you in a relationship.  Bourne uses commentaries on various romance movie elements before some of the chapters for foreshadowing.  Although the copyright is 2017, this edition is published in 2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Reviewed by Sheila Dube, Youth Services, Springvale Public Library