The piece is taken down immediately, but there is no unringing that bell. She's interrupted before finishing, but that doesn't stop someone from wrapping it up on her behalf and printing the manifesto as Bugle online news the next day. She covers everything from Len's considerable lack of experience to the institutionalized sexism at Willoughby in general. In a fit of cathartic pique, Eliza pours her heart out into a Google Doc on a newsroom computer. NPR Books Summer Poll 2021: A Decade Of Great Sci-Fi And Fantasy Feeling Lost? These 3 Fantasy Novels Will Help You Be The Hero Of Your Own Story

So when some guy with little expertise and a boatload of charisma steps up at the eleventh hour and walks away with the position she's worked toward for years, it is not a pretty sight. She relies on her top-notch brain and expertise to see her through. She doesn't dress to impress or alter her attitude to fit the social situation. Now, Eliza's not likable, and she knows it. She's running unopposed for Editor in Chief until the last minute, when Eliza is notified of another candidate: Leonard 'Len' DiMartile, an impossibly charming, half-white half-Japanese former basketball player. If you're Eliza Quan, you've just walked in on this exact scenario.Įliza, the Chinese Vietnamese American heroine of Michelle Quach's marvelous debut novel Not Here to Be Liked, is managing editor of the Willoughby High School Bugle and has worked tirelessly on the newspaper's staff for years.

But as they get to know one another, Eliza feels increasingly trapped by a horrifying realization-she just might be falling for the face of the patriarchy himself.Have you ever had the feeling that, despite all the good, hard work you've done, there's always someone else getting more accolades by accomplishing less? If you identify as a woman, it's far more likely that you've experienced such a thing in your lifetime. When Eliza’s frustration spills out in a viral essay, she finds herself inspiring a feminist movement she never meant to start, caught between those who believe she’s a gender equality champion and others who think she’s simply crying misogyny.Īmid this growing tension, the school asks Eliza and Len to work side by side to demonstrate civility. Suddenly her vast qualifications mean squat because inexperienced Len-who is tall, handsome, and male- just seems more like a leader.

That is, until ex-jock Len DiMartile decides on a whim to run against her.

“A smart romance with heart and guts and all the intoxicating feelings in between.” -Maureen Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of 13 Little Blue EnvelopesĮmergency Contact meets Moxie in this cheeky and searing novel that unpacks just how complicated new love can get…when you fall for your enemy.Įliza Quan is the perfect candidate for editor in chief of her school paper.

Not here to be liked michelle quach