You think you know her—the girl who’s a little quirky, sort of sexy, just out of reach, but always on someone’s mind. Everyone likes to talk about her—the manic pixie dream girl.
In stunningly raw, relatable prose that upends the idea of the manic pixie dream girl trope, Tom Leveen does more than just talk: he tells the story of a less-than-perfect “dream girl” and the equally flawed boy who worships her.
Tyler has been crushing on Becky since he started high school, but didn’t get the guts to talk to her until long after he already found himself dating Sydney, a quintessential good girl whose patience for Tyler’s unrequited love is thinning. After publishing a story about Becky in a prestigious magazine, Tyler decides tonight — halfway through their senior year — he’s going to come clean to Becky, with whom he has become good friends. But “Open For Business Becca” has some not-so-secret secrets Tyler’s been denying, and there’s no way Tyler’s dream girl can ever be what he needs her to be. Instead, he just might discover how far he’s willing to go to break his own heart.
Praise for manicpixiedreamgirl:
“In this spare, well-written romance, Leveen points out the many ways in which we, often unwittingly, deceive ourselves and those around us when we fall in love. ” ~ School Library Journal
“…the relationships between the novel’s teenage characters … are the real standouts. Tyler’s crass banter with his buddies, his snarky but supportive relationship with his sister, and his botched dealings with both Becky and Sydney are entirely realistic.” ~ Publishers Weekly
manicpixiedreamgirl TRIVIA
~ One of the bands Becky listens to is featured in Tom’s novel Zero, which is (in part) about one band’s rise to prominence.
~ Tyler’s short story “Stalemate” that appears in the novel was written by Tom just out of high school. It was originally published on a fledgling short story website that has long since vanished from the web.
~ The band Robby is listening to on the bus is Slayer. The song he misquotes is Raining Blood from the album Reign In Blood.
~ There are several allusions to Shakespeare, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream in particular, scattered throughout the novel. The first is the champagne the boys drink, “Western Flower.” Oberon says that one of Cupid’s arrows “fell upon a little western flower.” There are thematic similarities as well, such as one girl being pursued relentlessly by a boy while another girl is dismissed and rejected.
~ Additionally, the original title of the novel was Mustardseed, after Tyler’s nickname for Becky, who plays a fairy of the same name in the school production of Midsummer.