Speak for Yourself 12+

About this book

Girl meets boy. Girl likes boy. Girl gets friend to help win boy. Friend ends up with crush on boy...

Skylar's got ambitious #goals. And if she wants them to come true, she has to get to work now. (At least she thinks so...) Step one in her epic plan is showing everyone that her latest app is brilliant. To do that, she's going to use it to win State at the Scholastic Exposition, the nerdiest academic competition around. First, she'll need a team, and Skylar's not always so good with people. But she'll do whatever it takes to put one together ... even if it means playing Cupid for her teammates Joey and Zane, at Joey's request. When things get off to an awkward start for them, Skylar finds herself stepping in to help Joey. Anything to keep her on the team. Only, Skylar seems to be making everything more complicated. Especially when she realizes she might be falling for Zane, which was not a #goal. Can Skylar figure out her feelings, prove her app's potential to the world, and win State without losing her friends—or is her path to greatness over before it begins?

Reviews

Praise for Speak for Yourself

"Brimming with sharp banter and heartfelt confession in equal measure, Speak for Yourself is a love letter to everyone who's ever held their goals so tight, they nearly missed what life had to offer. Skylar Collins is a delight, and Lana Wood Johnson is a modern Jane Austen for the iPhone crowd." --Adib Khorram, author of Darius the Great Is Not Okay and Darius the Great Deserves Better

"A love story like no other, filled with teen angst, drama, academic decathlons, high school crushes, and characters you'll love." --Mason Deaver, author of The Ghosts We Keep

"Speak for Yourself is relatable, witty, and delivers the perfect twist on a classic romance trope. Johnson captures the messy awkwardness of teen life with refreshing honesty. This geektastic book had me grinning until the very last page!" --Julian Winters, award-winning author of Running with Lions

"One part an homage to nerdiness, one part love story with a dash of rom-com goodness, Speak for Yourself will appeal to anyone who's a go-getter, a ride-or-die friend, or most importantly, a dreamer." --Kosoko Jackson, author of Yesterday Is History

"Speak for Yourself perfectly interweaves crucial facets of the high school experience into a nerd-perfect soufflé of banter, chat threads, and lunchroom dynamics." --Sarah Henning, author of Throw Like a Girl

"A warm and witty rom-com about coding, missed connections, and letting yourself want more than you think you deserve." --Amanda Sellet, By the Book

"A unique romance choice where coding and STEM are popular topics." --School Library Journal"

"Johnson successfully conveys the pitfalls of following too narrow a path in a novel whose wit and relatable crises keep pages turning." --Publishers Weekly

Praise for Technically, You Started It

"A quick and compulsive read." --Washington Post

"Johnson's clever debut speaks to Generation Z's cyberculture by validating online friendships." --Kirkus Reviews

"Debut author Lana Wood Johnson serves up a summer sweet, emotionally fraught-slash-hilarious teen romcom plot line perfect for fans of Netflix movies like To All the Boys I've Loved Before." --BookRiot.com

"Inventive. . . . The all-text format could be a gimmick in less talented hands, but here the dialogue sparkles as it lets readers inside these teens' heads. It's a surprisingly powerful way to illustrate the true value of connection." --Austin American-Statesman

"Told entirely through texts between the two main characters, Johnson takes a risk with her unconventional format-and it more than pays off." --Columbus Dispatch

"An accessible format for reluctant readers." --Booklist