Title: A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend
Author: Emily Horner
Summary: Julia was a theatre nerd, a dreamer, and Cass Meyer’s best friend until she died in a car accident at the end of junior year. When the ‘secret project’ Julia was working on turns out to be a musical called “Totally Sweet Ninja Death Squad,” her friends, including her boyfriend Ollie, decide to stage a production of it in her honor. But Cass isn’t a theatre person and she knows that working on sets all summer won’t mend her heart. When Ollie casts Heather, the mean girl who spread rumors about her sexuality in middle school, in the lead role, Cass decides to leave town and bike across the country. It was a trip she and Julia planned together, but now Cass will do it alone and carry Julia’s ashes to the ocean.
When Cass returns home, she decides to help with the production anyway because that’s what Julia would have wanted. How Cass makes this decision over the course of her summer on the road and how she comes to terms with her friends and former enemy Heather will move the readers of this heartfelt story of love, friendship, and discovery.
Who will like this book?: Anyone who has ever felt that they don’t exactly belong in their group of friends. Fans of musical theatre and ninjas, either together or separately. Anyone looking for a good coming out story.
If you like this, try this: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger. Shift by Jennifer Bradbury.
Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian