I liked the normalization of LGBTQIA existence in this - it wasn't a big deal, it just was (which is how life should be! ). Shoshanna was such an impulsive and brash MC - which caused some secondhand embarrassment when I, an adult, could see a few holes in her logic. I think teens will relate well to that, even if it causes me a moment of "oh no!" Plus...the major setting is a book store - one of my favorite places.

The sweet nature of Shoshanna Greenberg turns into a friendly competition against Jake Kaplan to see who gets more sales in Once Upon, the bookstore they work at.

Shoshanna Greenberg is a cheerful happy going girl who works at Once Upon, an Indie bookstore and relishes in the books that surround her job. She works hard to earn money and takes double shifts in order to afford the repair of her car, Barbra Streisand, and help her two moms who work equally as hard.

It’s a cold December and Shoshanna, who is very strong-headed and cares about everyone, wants to help out, and succeed in earning money and working hard at Once Upon. So when Jake Kaplan starts working there, only reading books for school and not falling for Shoshanna’s happy mood, competition arises between the two.

When Myra, the boss and owner of Once Upon, starts the Christmas competition to see who will get the most customers, Shoshanna and Jake go head to head for the top prize of $250. Both intending to use it for the best of purposes. But what Shoshanna and Jake don’t realize is that along the way, they’ll both start to become friends, realizing each others’ true intentions as to why they want to win $250.

I gave Recommended for You four stars, absolutely loving the growth of Shoshanna as a character and the way she was determined to bring success and happiness to everyone around her and not just for herself.

Shoshanna really cares for her moms and her friends even the people she works with and time and time again, she puts them first. She made a few mistakes throughout the book but they would always be resolved with communication and understanding. When she had disagreements with her moms and then with her friends, she resolved them with talking about and putting them first. Shoshanna’s character development was great to read because you could really see how much care she puts into the people that matter most to her.

When she starts to go head to head in the Christmas competition with Jake, she hated him, wanting him to stop taking her customers and win the competition, but as she began to get to know Jake, she realized how important working at Once Upon was to him and her attraction toward him only grew from there. You could see the way they became much more friendly toward each other and come to an understanding about the competition.

The one thing I didn’t enjoy was the way Shoshanna jumped the gun on a few topics which made her risk her friendship and family. I knew throughout the book that she cared deeply about her family and friends but there were some occasions that I found were rather dumb on her part and it felt like she didn’t realize what she was doing wrong until it came back to bite her. This was my only real problem about the book.

All in all I quite enjoyed reading this book and I’m glad I got to read this.

Thank you again to NetGalley for providing me an ARC for an honest review.

Oh man this was the cutest rom com ya book I’ve read in a while. It was a really fast and fun read. So this was about Shoshanna Greenburg who works at Once Upon her fav indie bookstore which is in the mall. This takes place over about a week a couple days before Christmas and after Christmas as well. So Shoshanna loves working at Once Upon and has her 2 best friends who work at the mall as well. Well a new guy starts at the bookstore Jake who is very cute but not a reader and a fellow jew which is hard to find in Atlanta where the story takes place. So Shoshanna has to start training him and they get off on the wrong foot. In the meantime, Myra her boss announces a store wide competition that the person who sells the most books gets a $250 bonus which she needs to fix her car Barbara Streisand. Of course in cute rom com fashion they both want to win and start competing and then it turns into friends and maybe more. There is some tension with problems in her mom’s marriage and some angst with her friends that helps balance out the cute rom com aspects of the story. This was just a really cute story and I loved that it was set in an indie bookstore

Thanks to Margaret K. McElderry Books and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

Shoshanna Greenberg loves books, and she loves her job at the bookstore, Once Upon a Time. Now that her moms are fighting, it's the only place where she feels like she knows who she is. Until she meets Jake Kaplan, new employee and very cute, who is not at all charmed by her. After their boss creates a competition to increase sales, the two realize they may have a little more in common than they thought.

This book was cute. I liked the storyline, but it felt a little rushed? There were several plotlines that were resolved mid-novel that could have been drawn out more to make us care about them more. There were also some errors with the consistency that I hope will be fixed before publication. Shoshanna is very sweet but very childish in her thinking, and it started becoming more annoying than endearing. But I don't think that it was a bad book. I just don't know if I would read it again.

***I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.*** Recommended For You is a young adult novel about a girl named Shoshanna who finds comfort in the bookstore that she works in, Once Upon, until it’s taken away by a new employee named Jake who’s mean and couldn’t care less about anyone’s feelings. It doesn’t help that he’s annoyingly attractive too. I had high expectations from this book the moment I heard about it, and I am very happy to announce that it did not disappoint. It was packed with a good amount of sarcasm, moments that made you laugh and moments that made you swoon over Jake with quite an intensity, which were of course, my favorite parts. It was light-hearted and an exciting read without trying, and I loved it. The development was smooth and amazing, and the writing style was perfect. I would definitely recommend this book to all young adult fans.

This book was one of my favorites that I have read lately, I felt that it kept me on edge from the beginning and I did not want to stop reading.

Cute bookstore romance. Shoshanna works at her favorite place in the world, a bookstore called Once Upon. She needs money for a car repair, so when her boss announces a holiday sales competition, she is determined to win. But new employee Jake is determined to be victorious. The plot isn't anything terribly deep or surprising, but that's not what you read cute bookstore romances for. The subplot about the disintegration of Shoshanna's mothers' marriage felt realistic, and Shoshanna's feelings about the turmoil in her home were well developed. Some of the cultural references may date the book in a few years.

I am a sucker for books set in bookstores or libraries. This YA novel provided the nice "fall into a book" experience that I needed right now. It is one you can devour in one or two sittings. The main character, Shoshanna Greenberg, is high energy and impulsive. Being a reader and a writer are important to her identity so she is horrified when the new employee at the Once Upon bookstore declares that he is not a reader. Clearly romance will ensue! I appreciated that there is some diversity among the characters (racial, religious and sexual orientation) that was not essential to the plot but reflecting the actual diversity that occurs in the real world- especially the world of book worms.

I truly enjoyed Laura Silverman's Recommended for You. It was filled with likable characters and and believable YA storylines.

Shoshanna Greenberg works at a bookstore, Once Upon, that has become her home away from home. She loves her coworkers and is clearly the favorite of her boss. Her contentment comes to a crashing halt when Jake Kaplan is hired. Soon, she and Jake are butting heads. (He doesn't even read!) Worse, when a competition is announced that the employee who sells the most books wins enough money for Shoshanna to repair her car, Barbara Streisand, it looks like Jake will actually be some serious competition. But, there's something about Jake that Shoshanna can't ignore, and it's not just because he's achingly cute and smells like baked goods. Over the course of the story they learn more about each other and realize perhaps they judged a little too quickly.

During all of this, Shoshanna is dealing with her parents', Mom and Mama, crumbling relationship. Shoshanna tries to fix it the best she can, which leads to some questionable decisions. Speaking of questionable decisions, Shoshanna makes a huge mistake when she uploads one of her best friend's make up videos to YouTube. Everything culminates when Shoshanna and Jake learn that Once Upon may close after this holiday season. They decide to come up with a plan to save the store,

Perhaps what makes this story truly unique is that it features Jewish characters. It's so important for kids to see themselves represented in books, and there are just not a lot of options for Jewish kids if they don't want to read about WWII and the Holocaust. These are just normal kids living in modern times who happen to be Jewish. I want to promote inclusivity and diversity in my library collection, and I will DEFINITELY be purchasing this title for my library.

Disclosure: I received a digital arc in exchange for my review from NetGalley.

This was an enjoyable story of Shoshanna, an outgoing girl who loves working at a bookstore. She is very impulsive and tries to fix everyone's problems. Her moms are fighting, her friend wants to be a YouTube star, and Shoshanna is trying to save up money to repair her car. When Jake starts working there she is instantly attracted to him, yet dislikes his grumpy attitude. Eventually, the bookstore has a contest where the employees compete to sell the most books. Shoshanna is determined to win so she can get the bonus money to fix her car.
Shoshanna and Jake are in the lead and as a result learn more about each other, finding that they are more alike than they thought.

In Recommended for You Shoshana, a Jewish indy bookseller teen, is just trying to survive the holiday mall rush, and hopefully make enough money to fix her old car (adorably named Barbra Streisand). Winning the bookshop's holidays sales challenge seemed like it would be easy until Shoshanna meets the new guy: Jake, a self-professed nonreader whom Shoshanna can't seem to stop offending, which is especially unnerving because she's super attracted to Jake. When Shoshanna starts sensing trouble between her moms at home, and gets embroiled in some friend drama, she's more overwhelmed than ever. Can Shoshanna make it through this holiday season full of changes?

Recommended for You is so sweet! I never thought anything would make nostalgic for a packed mall during the holidays, but between quarantine and Silverman's adorable indy bookstore, I was here for it. I would highly recommend this book as a fun holiday read for tweens and teens!

This was a cute book. You could tell that the author wrote with diversity in mind, although I'm not sure how successful it was, because it was done with a pretty heavy hand. The characters are well drawn. It deals with serious issues in a way that will relate to teen audiences experiencing the same thing. There was humor throughout the novel, to lighten the mood. The book store employees were a delightful ragtag bunch. I found the Epilogue a little anti-climatic as well as the resolution of the romantic element. Overall a fun read, though.

Young adult contemporary romance. Shoshanna is a teenage girl working in the Once Upon bookstore. She is looking forward to the holiday season until a new coworker shows up. Jake is not there as a devoted reader, but simply to do a job-- he doesn't even read for fun! After the store boss announces a sale competition with a $250 bonus, it becomes clear that Shoshanna and Jake are the two frontrunners. As the two devise ways to sell more and more books, their initial dismay turns into respect and then friendship and perhaps more.

I loved the bookstore setting, the strong friendships, and the sweet crush. I felt so bad for Shoshanna as she was dealing with a lot of stress from so many aspects of her life. Overall a light fluffy read with a dollop of Jewish culture.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to read this book because of the Jewish background of Shoshanna and the bookstore aspect. This book was so cute! I did find it to have A LOT going on, maybe a bit more than I would have liked, but it is a good holiday read.

Shoshanna works in a bookstore and Jake the new guy isn't only "hot" he is also Jewish. But the kicker, he doesn't read!
I felt that Shoshanna had a really good heart, but doesn't always make the right decisions and has some impulse control problems. As sometimes teens do. Jake, man he is a big ball of angstiness (is that a word) and he and Sho try to be enemies, but that doesn't quite workout for them. There are a lot of other characters, friends, family, coworkers, and so on. I think we could have done without a few, but they also show you different aspects of Shoshanna and Jake's characters.

A fun read and if you don't already support your local bookstore, it might just make you want to because we can't let bookstores die! There are libraries, sure, too, but there is something about a great bookstore when you enter it and you get chills and just feel like home.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

This was such a cute book and the sweet read you need after a heavy one or need a bookish escape. I really liked Shoshanna and her character development.

Guac is always extra, and so is Shoshanna Greenberg, a sixteen-year-old Jewish girl living outside of Atlanta and working at an independent book store to pay her bills. And sometimes her moms' bills too. Shosh has got her share of problems, but her biggest situation is that she is impetuous. and really needs to grow up. I'd say this story is her "come to Jesus" moment, but Shosh would probably point out that she's Jewish, like she does ad nauseam. But Jake Kaplan, the new hire at the bookstore, is Jewish too and they bond over Christmas at the mall and saving the bookstore as they find that maybe they can work together instead of trying to sabotage each other from winning the prize money for selling the most books over the holiday rush.
Cultural Judaism abounds, but so does friendship. The strength of the story lies in the mistakes Shosh makes, but the way she makes up for her wrongs, especially with her friend's video she posts without permission. The story is strong in its approach to accountability, and that is a lesson a lot of us can learn.

An adorable YA romcom, set in a bookstore over the holiday season! Warm and cozy and delightfully Jewish, the romance is sweet and earnest, and the cast of characters is diverse and charming. Would make an adorable Netflix movie!

It would've been my dream to work at a bookstore as a teen (and now if we're being honest), so this book allowed me to live vicariously through Shoshanna, the best little bookseller there ever was.

There was a LOT going on over the span of one week in this book. The list includes possible parental separation, fights with friends, money problems, job insecurity, a new crush... it felt pretty packed into just one, fairly short, book. I thought it had been over the course of a few weeks until toward the end of the book they mention it's been just ONE! With so many subplots, it was hard to tell what the focus should be. At some point, I just wanted it to be a romance book about two teens falling in love in a bookstore. I wouldn't have said no to a makeout session between the stacks, but that's just me.

On a positive note, this book does a great job with diversity. It has not just a token diverse friend, but diversity of pretty much all kinds - racial, economic, religious/ethnic, and there was character who was physical disabled. It didn't feel like the author was checking a box, but just naturally writing a story in a diverse world, which is always the goal.

But, as each one of these characters interacts with Shoshanna and they come to blows in some way or another throughout this one week, it all felt a bit overwhelming. If the timeline had just been extended a little, it would have felt much more realistic. All of the turmoil, random actions, and constant back and forth made it a little hard to like Shoshanna at times.

That being said, it definitely helped to cement Shoshanna fully as a teen. I wouldn't expect any teen to know all the answers. They have stupid fights with their friends, they try and fail to act cool around their crush (to be honest, Jake would have befuddled me too), and they do pretty much everything without thinking it through. A lot of YA books don't capture this well, instead creating these super teens. Shoshanna was not that and it worked.

This is a cute, quick read. It falls very much on the young, wholesome side of YA, with just a sprinkle of romance, and a lot more focus on all of the relationships in Shosanna's life. I can see it being the perfect read for a winter break.

I received a preview copy of this book through NetGalley. The description hooked me immediately because I love rom-coms, I love To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and I loved You’ve Got Mail way back in the day. Overall, the plot was sweet but simple. It’s a very quick read, which is something I do want in a book that I’m going to offer my students in my high school library.

Bless her heart, Shoshanna could be me. I also am a fixer who struggles when I’m not in control, and I am far too impulsive. She has opportunities to learn valuable lessons in this story, and her character development is solid, in spite of it being a short book. I would be friends with Shoshanna if she were real!

Cute story, somewhat predictable but interesting characters, and quick pacing that keeps everything moving—good choice for a light read.

Recommended for You is such a fun read. Shoshannah is hilarious and well meaning which leads to multiple hijinks. I love how much she loves everything with enthusiasm even if it leads her wrong from time to time. It was hard for me to believe this book takes place over a week and not months. We see a lot happen and a ton of growth for the characters and it was great to see a story about a young POC who wasn't pig holed into a sterotypical box.

Laura Silverman does a great job with the pacing of this story and the heart of our main character. The side characters are tons of fun too. I love that the friendship between Shoshannah and Jake was a big part of this week and there is tiny hints of romance.