Be Dazzled

Ryan La Sala

$11.99

Publication Date: February 6th, 2024

Publisher:

Sourcebooks Fire

ISBN:

9781728279633

Pages:

336

Eagle Eye Book Shop

On hand, as of Apr 26 11:17pm

(Juvenile Fiction)

On Our Shelves Now

I absolutely loved this book. Ryan La Sala is one of my favorite authors to follow on social media because he is hilarious, and I’m so happy to know that his humor translates amazingly into his books. I loved Raffy and Luca and their story so much. I don’t know much about the world of cosplay, but I loved learning about it through this book! I’ll definitely be recommending this to people!

Emily Knosher, Read It Again Books, Suwanee, GA

Winter 2020 Kids Indie Next List

Description

An epic queer love story from the author of The Honeys and Reverie about finding yourself after losing love.

When I see him, I see us. How we came together, what we created, what we ruined.

The only way to understand how we fell apart is to understand what we were made of in the first place.

Raffy can make anything. He can bedazzle, sew, stitch, drape, and turn the most ordinary objects into fabulous costumes. This year he is determined to win the biggest cosplay competition in Boston. There's only one small problem… Raffy's ex-boyfriend, Luca, is his main competition.

Last year Luca and Raffy made the perfect team after serendipitously meeting in the rhinestone aisle at the local craft store—or at least Raffy thought they did. But Luca's fear of coming out to his family and Raffy's insistence on perfection when it came to their art, caused their relationship to crash and burn. And Raffy has finally picked up the pieces and is determine to have the major comeback he knows he deserves.

But when Raffy ends up partnering with Luca on his most ambitious build yet, he'll have to juggle unresolved feelings for the boy who broke his heart and his own self-doubt as he works to get everything he's ever wanted…and maybe the boy too.

Praise for Be Dazzled:

"A sequin-filled romance that's also a love letter to the craft and creativity of cosplay."—Publishers Weekly (STARRED REVIEW)

"A charming, geeky love story filled with all the con drama readers could wish for."—Kirkus Reviews

"A crafty queer romance about self-acceptance, and a delightful addition to YA collections."—School Library Journal

"Heartfelt and hilarious, Be Dazzled is an artfully crafted ode to teen ambition and first love. From the book's charming cast to Raffy's quick-witted voice, La Sala's contemporary debut simply dazzles."—Phil Stamper, bestselling author of The Gravity of Us

About the Author

Ryan La Sala grew up in Connecticut, but only physically. Mentally, he spent most of his childhood in the worlds of Sailor Moon and Xena: Warrior Princess, which perhaps explains all the twirling. He studied Anthropology and Neuroscience at Northeastern University before becoming a project manager specialized in digital tools. He technically lives in New York City, but has actually transcended material reality and only takes up a human shell for special occasions, like brunch, and to watch anime (which is banned on the astral plane). He is the author of Reverie and Be Dazzled. You can visit him at ryanlasala.com.