Some Girls Do

By: Jennifer Dugan

Narrated by: Nora Hunter, Bailey Carr

Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

In this YA contemporary queer romance from the author of Hot Dog Girl, an openly gay track star falls for a closeted, bisexual teen beauty queen with a penchant for fixing up old cars.

“Earnest, wistful, romantic, and real.” (Casey McQuiston, New York Times best-selling author of Red, White & Royal Blue)

Morgan, an elite track athlete, is forced to transfer high schools late in her senior year after it turns out being queer is against her private Catholic school's code of conduct. There, she meets Ruby, who has two hobbies: tinkering with her baby blue 1970 Ford Torino and competing in local beauty pageants, the latter to live out the dreams of her overbearing mother. The two are drawn to each other and can't deny their growing feelings. But while Morgan - out and proud, and determined to have a fresh start - doesn't want to have to keep their budding relationship a secret, Ruby isn't ready to come out yet. With each girl on a different path toward living her truth, can they go the distance together?

“Beautiful, necessary, and completely irresistible.” (Becky Albertalli, New York Times best-selling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda)

©2021 Jennifer Dugan (P)2021 Listening Library

Critic reviews

A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year

A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults selection

An ALA Rainbow Book List Selection

“A smart, heartfelt teen romance.” —NPR

“Dugan returns to the sweet Sapphic vibes of Hot Dog Girl with this newest, about two girls with undeniable chemistry and one big obstacle to being together.” —BuzzFeed

“Swoony romance with well-crafted multidimensional characters rarely seen in young adult literature, making for a fast-paced read you won’t want to put down . . . A thoughtful exploration of coming out and safety, a necessary conversation for those within the queer community.” —Culturess

so cute!

this book is so cute i absolutely adored it!! the story the characters the development at the end!?! it all wraps up so nicely and i absolutely love this book

An Absolute Favorite!!

I've read this one more times than any other book! It holds a special place in my heart. It was one of the first sapphic books I read when I started getting into reading, and the story just spoke to me. I could relate to both Ruby and Morgan (in my youth, of course, lol). Their struggles, their passions, their angst... it was familiar.

Now Ruby and Morgan are obviously extremely different, but I love stories where they just couldn't deny the attraction. They had a lot going against them, and nothing was easy for them, but they were both tough and resilient. I truly enjoyed their journey.

And the narrators were amazing! I decided to give the audiobook a try and I was not disappointed!! They provided a new level of enjoyment for one of my favorite books 🥰

So. Darn. Cute.

I picked this one up as a “reward” read for myself. I listen to a ton of audiobooks every year and I often forget books that I want to read in the mix (don’t get me wrong, I still read every book for me). But rarely do I have the time or energy to read and review a book that I bought with a hard-earned credit. Now, that said, I promised myself in 2021 that I would. It was one of my goals, which is ironic because Some Girls Do have a lot about setting and reaching goals and doing things for themselves instead of for other people.

Some Girls Do, first off, was adorable, real, and just… near perfect. Dugan set off to write a story that felt like it could have been ripped from any high school while also tearing at the seams of some of the cultural and social biases that people have. She also was able to write about two very different situations. Morgan has a loving family who knows that she’s out and is actively fighting a lawsuit with her former school. She’s living with a brother and transfers to a new school. And there’s Ruby, who is sort of a social pariah. She has a really rough home life and also a complete juxtaposition – on one hand, she does pageants and gets all dolled up for that, and on the other, her passion is working on cars. The two girls couldn’t be more different but sometimes that’s exactly what you need. Fortunately, for both of them – they both have dreams and as Some Girls Do progresses they seem to help each other with that (knowingly or not).

I really enjoyed this one. Dugan was able to write a book that I smiled at throughout. Even when things got tough and Ruby was being self-destructive – it was just so darn enjoyable. I know a few people like Ruby and one person similar to Morgan and the characters are real people – Dugan wrote them in such a way that they definitely jump off of the page.

Add in a great narration by both performers and this is an audiobook that I won’t soon forget. Some Girls Do is one I would highly recommend and now I’m going back to read Hot Dog Girl (on my phone, downloaded, just need to make time for me again) and Verona Comics (since I’ve heard nothing but good things about that as well).

Also, if anyone reads this and has more stories similar to it that I should check out, PLEASE comment below and let me know. Or find me on twitter @brians_books and let me know there. I just finished Not My Problem and Cool For The Summer, both “coming-of-age” queer books, and I really enjoyed both of them. I’d love to find more stories like that.

Adorable

Absolutely adorable story with lovable characters and realistic, messy, wonderful coming out stories. Beautifully written book. Definitely one of my new favorites and by far the best book I've read in a while.

Made me cry too, but only a little.

It was fairly grounded in it's setting. It was told well and was highly enjoyable. My biggest nitpick was forgetting who was talking at the time and having to memorize at least one of their names cus I'm bad with names and their narrators blend together too easily at times. That aside, I liked this one. Had a fair bit of slice of life and a few good cute scenes of them just being happy. There was admittedly a lot of teen drama and a couple loose ends for me. But it was overall quote satisfying.

Loved every second

Amazing book! Captured so many real moments of being closeted and In love! Shot me back in time to when I was in their shoes

A New Favorite

A tale for the ages, something to return to time and time again. The raw emotion in this story hits so deep.

I love everything about it. It is such a cute book!

I love everything about it I don’t think I will fond any book better than this one.

cute infuriating love story

takes a while for them to align but I loved this book so much. it had the raw good with the raw bad. ups and downs. it was amazing. the ending had me happy sobbing.

Cute story

I really enjoyed it. There were moments I found myself frustrated with Morgan and her lack of empathy and how a lot could be resolved if Ruby explained her situation a bit better but they’re teenagers and where would an angsty friends to lovers story be if everyone talked about their feelings right from the start