He Must Like You (Hardcover)
Staff Reviews
Younge-Ullman delivers a stunning young adult novel about sex, sexual harassment, power, and realizing when enough is enough. Libby is our high school senior heroine, dealing with harassment in more points of her life than she thinks. Her father, an astoundingly aggressive and selfish man bulldozing over the family, drops the double bomb on Libby that a) he spent all her college money, and b) he is going to turn their house into a B&B, making Libby homeless in six months. Suddenly, Libby is trading dreams of college for a waitress job. She's also crushing hard on her best friend Noah, but her past hookups keeping interrupting their possible romance in her memories and flashbacks. And were those past hookups even consensual? It's no wonder that, when one of the gross customers gets a little too handsy, Libby snaps. Too bad that man she just dumped a pitcher of sangria on has half the town in his pocket, and someone was filming. Will Libby crumble under the pressure coming from all sides of her life, or will she rise to the occasion and finally stand up for herself to her friends, family, and the whole community? Taking place over the course of a week, He Must Like You shows a wonderfully real take on passive harassment, dubious consent, and straight-up jerks that women and teenage girls deal with all the time, without being too dark. A must-read for everyone!
— Margaret KennedyDescription
An authentic, angry, and surprisingly funny and romantic novel about sexual harassment, from award-winning author Danielle Younge-Ullman.
Libby's having a rough senior year. Her older brother absconded with his college money and is bartending on a Greek island. Her dad just told her she's got to pay for college herself, and he's evicting her when she graduates so he can Airbnb her room. A drunken hook-up with her coworker Kyle has left her upset and confused. So when Perry Ackerman, serial harasser and the most handsy customer at The Goat where she waitresses, pushes her over the edge, she can hardly be blamed for dupming a pitcher of sangria on his head. Unfortunately, Perry is a local industry hero, the restaurant's most important customer, and Libby's mom's boss. Now Libby has to navigate the fallout of her outburst, find an apartment, and deal with her increasing rage at the guys who've screwed up her life--and her increasing crush on the one guy who truly gets her. As timely as it is timeless, He Must Like You is a story about consent, rage, and revenge, and the potential we all have to be better people.
About the Author
Danielle Younge-Ullman (danielleyoungeullman.com) studied English and Theater at McGill University in Montreal, then worked as professional actor for ten years. This was character-building time during which she held a wild variety of acting and non-acting jobs--everything from working on the stage and in independent films, to dubbing English voices for Japanese TV, to temping, to teaching Pilates. She now lives with her husband and two daughters in an old house in Toronto that's constantly being renovated. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleYUllman.
Praise For…
One of the Ontario Library Association's 2020 Best Bets selection, Young Adult Fiction category
Praise for He Must Like You:
“There are few writers of any stripe capable of tackling important, tough topics with as much grace, heart, humor, and righteous fury as Danielle Younge-Ullman and nowhere is that more abundantly on display than in He Must Like You. This is a must-read.” —Jeff Zentner, Morris Award–winning author of The Serpent King
“This novel opens a much-needed conversation about consent, boldly addressing personal and professional assault in an empowering, engrossing read. A must for young women.”—Lori Goldstein, author of Screen Queens
"Inspired by the well-intentioned but demeaning title phrase that girls hear when boys mistreat them, Younge-Ullman has produced a spot-on story that educates and illuminates the gray areas of sexual consent. Libby’s experiences with the adult offender are textbook examples of the indignities women have suffered in public and in private, and her male friends’ reactions speak volumes. Realistic fiction with lessons for all."--Booklist
“The novel takes on the topic of nonconsent and how deeply it is baked into male-female interactions in American society, a subject as fraught as things can get.” --Kirkus Reviews
“[C]andidly considers rape culture and consent." --Publishers Weekly
“This is a must-read novel for every teenage girl – and guy for that matter.” --Highly Recommended, CM Reviews
