Get It Together, Delilah by Erin Gough

Abstract

Reviewed by: Get It Together, Delilah by Erin Gough April Spisak Gough, Erin Get It Together, Delilah. Chronicle, 2017 [336p] ISBN 978-1-4521-5187-8 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 8-10 In this Australian import, seventeen-year-old Delilah is on her own, since both of her (divorced) parents are off finding themselves and Delilah’s been left in charge of her dad’s coffee shop. This is actually the perfect excuse avoid the bullying at school by simply ceasing to go, so she focuses instead on running the coffee shop (poorly, because she’s a teen with zero business savvy), hanging out with her complicated best friend, Charlie, and obsessing about the gorgeous Rosa, a politically minded, closeted flamenco dancer. Delilah is a hapless mess and she’s not great at anything, but her intuition about people is decent, as when she ascertains that her dad needs his globe-trotting break more than she needs him home or that her friend Charlie needs to face consequences for a stupid move. Her eventual successes come from new understanding that going it alone is not always the best solution, and shared cooperation and collaboration brings her results she could have never achieved solo. Romance fans will find the up and down relationship of Rosa and Delilah dreamy, and Australia buffs will appreciate the Down Under milieu. Copyright © 2017 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois