Geekerella

February 20, 2017
In this thoroughly enjoyable, pop-
culture-saturated Cinderella retelling, 17-year-old Elle Wittimer, unhappy with her social climbing stepfamily, pins her hopes on winning a cosplay contest at a science fiction convention. Raised by her late father on the cult TV show Starfield, Elle anonymously blogs about the show and has expressed her lack of faith in Darien Freeman, the Hollywood heartthrob who’s been cast as Prince Carmindor in an upcoming film adaptation. As the cosplay contest approaches, Elle teams up with Sage, her friend/coworker at a vegan food truck, to redesign her father’s Carmindor costume, while texting with a mystery boy. Actor Darien grew up loving SF conventions and Starfield but has avoided them since his uncomfortable ascension to the “it list.” Poston (We Own the Night) builds an endearingly nervous text-based romance between Elle and Darien, and she gives her secondary characters dimension and agency: Sage is a lesbian fashion maven who gets her own happy ending, and Elle’s stepfamily, though still mostly terrible, is complex. A celebration of fandom and happily ever afters, this feel-good reimagining hits all the right notes. Ages 14–up. Agent: Holly Root, Waxman Leavell Literary.