Surprisingly Sarah

Libenson, Terri. Surprisingly Sarah. 2023. 352p. ISBN 9780063139213. 

We often are presented with "what if" scenarios. What if we had asked our crush out in middle school? How would have life been different than if we didn't? Sarah and Leo have been best friends forever. Neighbors who have grown up together, they enjoy spending time on Sarah's porch talking about life. At the end of last year Leo's parents told him he would be attending a private school, where he would hopefully learn some self-management and become more serious about education. This separation has not impacted the two best friends.

But now in 7th grade, the social climate has changed, and a big dance is coming. Sarah has been crushing on Leo's friend Ben for months, and she really wants to ask him out to the dance. What if he rejects her? What if he agrees? What if she can't muster her courage? Told through alternating views by Sarah and Leo, Surprising Sarah examines two scenarios, one where Sarah asks Ben, and one where she doesn't, and the impacts her decision has on the rest of her school year and on her friends. Both decisions come with positives and negatives, and in the end of either path, Sarah and Leo discover important truths about themselves and about their friendship.