To all those Casti girls out there who want to live the “true” high school experience, I’ve got a book for you. “Home Field Advantage” by Dahlia Adler is a high school romance about a football player and a cheerleader. But because we are Casti after all—plot twist—the player’s a girl… and it’s gay!

The story takes place in a small town in northern Florida (I know, but stay with me here). After a freak driving incident leaves the beloved town quarterback dead, the town is in desperate need of a new QB. But they weren’t expecting a girl. When Jack (short for Jaclyn) moves to town, she wasn’t awaiting a warm reception, but not complete hatred either. The only person who doesn’t seem to hate the new neighbors (get it?), is Alice, one of the varsity cheerleaders. As it turns out, Alice more than not-hates Jack, and Jack more than not-hates Alice. The two quickly notice the queerness in one another and start a romance of sorts.

The issue is that Alice is as deep in the closet as a Californian’s winter coat, and it’s still summer. To add to all of this, Alice, like the stereotypical Casti student, believes that if she doesn’t become cheer captain next year, her life is over and she’ll never get into college. To stay in their good grace’s, however, it seems she must join the anti-Jack brigade, even if her heart argues otherwise.

At just under three hundred pages, this story was very quick, cute and queer. It follows the typical three-act structure, with most of the action taking place in the third.

I really liked this novel, but it wasn’t super spectacular in any way. The side characters were fun, the romance was a bit rushed at times, but it was cute, and the plot was overall very interesting. 

If I have one caveat, however, it’s with the naming of the mascot and the school. The town is called Atherton, so as a surprise to absolutely nobody, the school is named Atherton High School. The mascot, however, threw me for a loop—the Atherton Gators. Depending on how long you’ve been at Casti and how aware of this rivalry you are, you may or may not know what this alludes to. This may just be a Florida thing, but either way, it definitely takes some points off.

All in all, this book was a nice read. It’s YA, so I would recommend it to anyone in grades six and up, just know there are some… allusions in play. 

To rate it, I give this book four out of five C’s. Conscience was the fifth because some of these characters were just plain stupid (not the gay ones).

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