Twelve Long Months »

Molly Swain is hopelessly in love. Mark is broody, mysterious, funny, attractive, artistic…basically, the only interesting thing in her small Minnesota town. She wonders to herself if they'll ever be more than lab partners, until the fateful day that she discovers they'll both be moving to New York City after they graduate. They're clearly meant to be together. Right?

Wrong. In Minnesota, Mark has a secret. And in New York, Molly discovers it. Not only is she not his type, she's not even the right gender. But does she immediately fall out of love with him? If only it were that easy….

With charm and truth, Brian Malloy gives us a smart, funny, heartfelt novel about falling in love with someone who will never feel the same way - and how to recover with your pride, heart, and friendship intact.

KLIATT

Molly Swain, senior in high school, budding physicist, virginal and average looking, is in love with Mark Dahl, her lab partner, who is one of the most popular boys in town. Strangely, however, he doesn't date. And when Mark is with Molly, he's monosyllabic. He doesn't display any personality to speak of, so she must love him for his looks. She lets him cheat off her lab notes and tests, giving him his best grade ever, and this is the basis of their friendship. Molly is excited to discover that Mark, too, is heading for New York City as soon as the last graduation party is over. She's been accepted at prestigious Columbia University, but he's not going to school: he's got a job painting houses for his uncle. Molly is undeterred in her pursuit of Mark, even after she meets two new best friends and improves her looks and sophistication. She calls him and lets him hang out overnight in her dorm room when he needs to get away. Ultimately, he reveals that he is gay. In New York, he feels liberated and dates the men of his dreams. Molly meets a new boyfriend, a dorky physicist type, who ends up rooming with Mark. To her surprise and no one else's, her chaste boyfriend falls in love with Mark himself. The book's title refers to a year of growth, change, and self-realization in Molly's life, as she learns to overcome disappointment and make friends even when the friends aren't all that they first appear to be. The novel has a darkly comic tone, but Molly is too clueless to be believable. Reviewer: Myrna Marler