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While We’re Young by K. L. Walther
The Blurb On The Back:
Four friends. One day off. A whole heap of trouble.
Graduation if fast approaching for Grace - but all she can think about is mending the fractured friendship trio of her best friend, Isa, and Isa’s ex, Everett. Taking a page from her troublemaker brother James’s playbook, Grace masterminds an unsanctioned Senior Skip Day, including kidnapping Everett and ‘borrowing’ Isa’s parents’ car.
Will one day of freedom save their tangled relationships, or will the secrets between them ruin everything? And will Grace admit who really makes her heart skip a beat … ?
It’s almost the summer vacation near Philadelphia, USA.
18-year-old Grace Barbour is the popular president of her high school’s student body and will be heading to college in California on a tennis scholarship. Her older brother James, however, is more of a mischief maker, known for bunking off school and constantly at war with Principal Unger. Grace’s best friend, Isa Cruz, is also an over-achiever thanks to her attorney parents who are desperate for her to go to an Ivy League school and aren’t satisfied with her acceptance to Brown.
With term almost over, Grace plans to skive off school and spend the day in Philadelphia and persuades Isa into spending it with her. But unknown to Isa, Grace has an ulterior motive and plans to trick Everett Adler into joining them. The three used to be very close friends until Everett dumped Isa 2 years earlier right after Prom. Since then, Isa has not really interacted with him, not even when Everett’s dad died from brain cancer and Grace - who has secretly been spending time with Everett - is desperate for them to renew their bond. The day’s events are tied to activities that Everett’s father used to take them to when they were younger and designed to repair the friendship.
But each of Grace, Isa and Everett have been keeping secrets - from themselves and each other - and when James realises that Grace has tricked him and decides to go after them, it’s inevitable that the truth will come out and maybe change everything forever …
If you’re familiar with FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF then there’s a huge amount to enjoy in K. L. Walther’s YA frothy romantic comedy, which couples a lot of Easter egg references with wry narrative voices and is as much about friendship as romance. There are some fun moments to be had but I did find it difficult to keep the various families straight in my head and I worry that there’s more here for readers aged 35+ than there are for target teens.
I picked this up because I read a blurb for it, which said it was based on FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF, which is one of those films that I always end up watching whenever it’s on TV. In an afterword Walther explains how she got the idea and I appreciated her candour in talking about how difficult it was to write after the success of THE SUMMER OF BROKEN RULES and the death of her father. I was therefore intrigued to see how she took the film and adapted it for teen readers.
For me, the big strength of the book is how many elements she’s taken from the film. The location has switched from Chicago to Philadelphia but the basic story is the same - 3 kids skiving school and having adventures in a museum and high end restaurant - and a 4th trying to find out if Grace is faking her illness with all 4 characters narrating straight to the reader. There was a lot of fun to be had in spotting the various Easter eggs and differences and I really did enjoy some of the references, which I am not going to spoil here. However I do wonder if teen readers will pick up on all of them and therefore get as much out of the book as older readers.
The romance elements are quite sweet but the story is more about friendship than it is about the love story, which I think is something that will resonate with a lot of readers. I enjoyed the wry but knowing narrative voices that each of the teens has, although they do merge together at times, making it difficult to pick out who is who other than when they share backstory. I have to say that the reference to taking Isa’s dad’s Tesla is not something that plays out well in 2025 and I personally would have liked a resolution to the situation regarding Isa’s parents, which is left open-ended when I think closure would have been welcome.
All in all though, this is a frothy, fun reader and if there’s more here for older readers than there is for teens then that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The Verdict:
If you’re familiar with FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF then there’s a huge amount to enjoy in K. L. Walther’s YA frothy romantic comedy, which couples a lot of Easter egg references with wry narrative voices and is as much about friendship as romance. There are some fun moments to be had but I did find it difficult to keep the various families straight in my head and I worry that there’s more here for readers aged 35+ than there are for target teens.
WHILE WE’RE YOUNG was released in the United Kingdom on 13 March 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
Graduation if fast approaching for Grace - but all she can think about is mending the fractured friendship trio of her best friend, Isa, and Isa’s ex, Everett. Taking a page from her troublemaker brother James’s playbook, Grace masterminds an unsanctioned Senior Skip Day, including kidnapping Everett and ‘borrowing’ Isa’s parents’ car.
Will one day of freedom save their tangled relationships, or will the secrets between them ruin everything? And will Grace admit who really makes her heart skip a beat … ?
It’s almost the summer vacation near Philadelphia, USA.
18-year-old Grace Barbour is the popular president of her high school’s student body and will be heading to college in California on a tennis scholarship. Her older brother James, however, is more of a mischief maker, known for bunking off school and constantly at war with Principal Unger. Grace’s best friend, Isa Cruz, is also an over-achiever thanks to her attorney parents who are desperate for her to go to an Ivy League school and aren’t satisfied with her acceptance to Brown.
With term almost over, Grace plans to skive off school and spend the day in Philadelphia and persuades Isa into spending it with her. But unknown to Isa, Grace has an ulterior motive and plans to trick Everett Adler into joining them. The three used to be very close friends until Everett dumped Isa 2 years earlier right after Prom. Since then, Isa has not really interacted with him, not even when Everett’s dad died from brain cancer and Grace - who has secretly been spending time with Everett - is desperate for them to renew their bond. The day’s events are tied to activities that Everett’s father used to take them to when they were younger and designed to repair the friendship.
But each of Grace, Isa and Everett have been keeping secrets - from themselves and each other - and when James realises that Grace has tricked him and decides to go after them, it’s inevitable that the truth will come out and maybe change everything forever …
If you’re familiar with FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF then there’s a huge amount to enjoy in K. L. Walther’s YA frothy romantic comedy, which couples a lot of Easter egg references with wry narrative voices and is as much about friendship as romance. There are some fun moments to be had but I did find it difficult to keep the various families straight in my head and I worry that there’s more here for readers aged 35+ than there are for target teens.
I picked this up because I read a blurb for it, which said it was based on FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF, which is one of those films that I always end up watching whenever it’s on TV. In an afterword Walther explains how she got the idea and I appreciated her candour in talking about how difficult it was to write after the success of THE SUMMER OF BROKEN RULES and the death of her father. I was therefore intrigued to see how she took the film and adapted it for teen readers.
For me, the big strength of the book is how many elements she’s taken from the film. The location has switched from Chicago to Philadelphia but the basic story is the same - 3 kids skiving school and having adventures in a museum and high end restaurant - and a 4th trying to find out if Grace is faking her illness with all 4 characters narrating straight to the reader. There was a lot of fun to be had in spotting the various Easter eggs and differences and I really did enjoy some of the references, which I am not going to spoil here. However I do wonder if teen readers will pick up on all of them and therefore get as much out of the book as older readers.
The romance elements are quite sweet but the story is more about friendship than it is about the love story, which I think is something that will resonate with a lot of readers. I enjoyed the wry but knowing narrative voices that each of the teens has, although they do merge together at times, making it difficult to pick out who is who other than when they share backstory. I have to say that the reference to taking Isa’s dad’s Tesla is not something that plays out well in 2025 and I personally would have liked a resolution to the situation regarding Isa’s parents, which is left open-ended when I think closure would have been welcome.
All in all though, this is a frothy, fun reader and if there’s more here for older readers than there is for teens then that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The Verdict:
If you’re familiar with FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF then there’s a huge amount to enjoy in K. L. Walther’s YA frothy romantic comedy, which couples a lot of Easter egg references with wry narrative voices and is as much about friendship as romance. There are some fun moments to be had but I did find it difficult to keep the various families straight in my head and I worry that there’s more here for readers aged 35+ than there are for target teens.
WHILE WE’RE YOUNG was released in the United Kingdom on 13 March 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.