By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell
Coming-of-age stories are usually riddled with main characters who hate their hometowns and count down the days until they can move away. But what if the town you grew up in is wonderful? What if despite your hometown’s lack of museums and film festivals, it’s a place that lets people pay for things in pies when they’re strapped for cash and librarians that keep your favorite candy stocked behind the circulation desk? These are questions Willa Taylor faces after her aunt dies and leaves her money specifically to travel in her senior year of high school in the young adult read Library or Lattes? by Lila Hazzell. With her aunt’s money and advice in hand, Willa must choose between what’s familiar and adventure.
Despite what the book cover might suggest, although Willa has two possible suitors, the love triangles that have populated young adult fiction for years won’t be found in Love or Lattes? Instead, taking a literary risk, author Hazell created a choose-your-own-adventure-esque romance novel where, through alternating chapters, we see what Willa’s senior year would be like based on the suitor she’s with. In the Library timeline, we see a Willa that barrels full speed ahead towards a journalism program in London. When she quits her part-time job at the local (and only) coffee shop, she spends her weekends studying at the library for the entrance exam and meets Theo, a broody boy who hates Oak Falls and can hardly make it through a weekend without railing against small-town America. In the Lattes timeline, Willa hesitates to accept her Aunt Lisa’s money and is more unsure about leaving. In this version of events, she keeps her job at the Little Acorn Coffee Shop and connects with James, the owner’s son tasked with running his injured father’s business while he’s nursing a broken heart.
Neither of the young men the readers are presented with is bad, but they do bring out different sides of Willa. In the Library timeline with Theo we see his jaded, Eurocentric worldview rub off on Willa and she mirrors his cynicism about the things that Oak Falls lacks in ways that her friends find hurtful. Additionally, in the Library timeline we see her relationships suffer more due to her focus on leaving. In the Lattes timeline, we’re presented with a more cautious Willa who unabashedly loves Oak Falls and helps James fall back in love with the place where he grew up. Still, even in the Lattes timeline, Willa wonders what the rest of the world could have to offer.
Hazzell’s first-person prose is comforting and allows readers to feel at home in the idyllic town. Not only that, but despite the focus on the paths Willa’s love life could take, the story prioritizes her platonic relationship. Highlights of the book include Willa’s relationship with her father and her best friend Lenny. In both timelines, through the highs and lows, readers will understand why she’d hesitate to leave such a loving support system. This novel is perfect for “Gilmore Girls” fans or anyone who counts down the days until Pumpkin Spice lattes are on the menu again.
However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t things that might give readers pause. While there might not be enough years between Willa and either love interest for the story to be considered a true May-December romance as the protagonist is a senior in high school where both of her potential suitors are in their early 20s, which might raise eyebrows. This reader knows that marrying young is the norm in a lot of small towns, but as endearing as James could be, at times I wondered if a high school senior’s first boyfriend should be someone who has had an ex-fiancé.
Library or Lattes? is a love letter to small-town America that balances acknowledging the flaws and what’s appealing about the Oak Falls of the world. Sure, the town has flaws as we hear about the lack of privacy, the limited movie theatre options and how secluded the area can be at times. However, in the way of positives we are told about the residents’ generosity with each other, the sense of community and the traditions. Ultimately, as her Aunt Lisa advised her from beyond the grave, Willa concludes that you can love your hometown and still have the need to see other parts of the world. Not only that, but it also presents the understanding that choosing yourself isn’t selfish and traveling doesn’t mean you have to stay away forever.