THE EPIC CRUSH OF GENIE LO, by F. C. Yee

The story: Genie Lo has always stood tall...really tall...but she never realized it was a clue to her true identity as the reincarnated staff of the gods. When cute but short Quentin Sun shows up at school, she feels an immediate connection to him. She put it down to hormones, but it turns out they WERE meant to be together--just not in the way she thought. She's the weapon, he's the Monkey god, and together they're out to kick some demon booty.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language R; Violence PG-13; Sexual content PG; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; Magic & the occult PG-13; GLBT content G; adult themes G; overall rating PG-13.

Liz's comments: Thumbs up! There's plenty of action in this, but the author also addresses stereotypes of smart Asian kids struggling to get into top-tier colleges and other standard tropes. Best of all is Genie's hilarious, snarky narration, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. Hand this to any kid who likes Percy Jackson and can overlook a female in the role of butt-kicker--or, even better, who would applaud it. ;)