This “important and necessary book for our time” (Amber Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Way I Used to Be) confronts the myth of the friendzone as a boy in love with his best friend feels he’s owed a chance at romance—and she’s the only one in their lives who disagrees.
For as long as anyone can remember, Zeke Ladoja and Imogen Parker have been best friends. Their classmates, their parents, and even the school custodian think that they’re meant to be together. And that’s exactly what Zeke wants: for Gen to be his girlfriend. Now that she’s about to be sixteen (and allowed to date), Zeke is finally going to tell her how he feels—in front of everyone at her birthday party.
Imogen loves Zeke with all her heart, but only as a friend. The pressure to be with Zeke has sometimes been overwhelming, but up to this point, she’s been able to manage it. Then she falls for the new boy, Trevor Cook, and she knows the news will devastate Zeke. The last thing she wants to do is hurt her best friend, but she also resents the fact that no one seems to care about what she wants.
The night of Gen’s party, everything goes wrong. There’s backlash, most of it directed at Gen, and Zeke feels emboldened. He isn’t about to give up on his feelings, and he’ll do whatever it takes to prove that she made the wrong choice…even if it means destroying their friendship. But Gen isn’t about to give up on fighting for herself and the freedom to love the boy she wants, not the boy she’s expected to be with.
BIO
ordan K. Casomar is a Black prose writer from West Des Moines, Iowa. He holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Minnesota. He was selected for a MacDowell Fellowship in fall 2021, was the runner-up for the Pinch’s Spring 2018 Literary Awards in creative nonfiction, received a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grant in 2017, and is an alum of the Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation workshop for BIPOC writers. He currently lives in Washington, DC, with his wife, their son, and their two cats. He works as a professional Dungeon Master and creative writing instructor for teens. How to Lose a Best Friend is his debut novel.
REVIEWS
"In this sure-footed portrayal of contemporary teen romance, Casomar utilizes Zeke and Imogen’s alternating POVs to candidly capture the social systems that uphold the inherent entitlement of the friend zone myth as well as the costs of railing against its toxic messaging." -- Publishers Weekly
“A refreshing and honest exploration of the pressures a culture of toxic masculinity places on teenagers that tenderly portrays its effects, not only on young women, but also the negative impact it has on young men. An important and necessary book for our time.” -- Amber Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Way I Used to Be
[H] MTV Books / September 10, 2024
1.2" H x 8.8" L x 5.8" W (0.9 lbs) 336 pages
For ages 13 to 17