WE ARE ALL MADE OF MOLECULES, by Susin Nielsen

The story: Two kids who would never be friends in the real world end up in the same house when their parents move in together. Stewart's a geek still trying to deal with his mother's death, as well as with Ashley's total lack of smarts; Ashley is a fashionista who finds Stewart a total freakazoid. And then there's her dad, whose boyfriend just moved in with him next door--what a social disaster! When Stewart tries to save Ashley from the clutches of the totally-hot-but-totally-evil Jared, her reaction is just about what you'd expect. How will they ever figure each other out?

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG; Sexual content PG-13 (attempted date rape); Nudity PG; Substance abuse PG-13; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content PG-13 (child dealing with parent's coming out; gay bashing); adult themes (death of a parent; difficulties of blended families; parents cohabiting) PG; overall rating PG-13.

Liz's comments: Stewart and Ashley are like chalk and cheese--neither would ever figure they had anything in common, although Stewart is more agreeable to trying to have some kind of relationship. Their coming together as sort-of siblings is realistic and proves that you can have commonalities with anyone, as long as you try hard enough: after all, we're all made of molecules.