Teen Ink

“I have some rules about books,” says Eliot, a character in Scrambled Eggs at Midnight. “No books with neon or metallic printing on the cover. No books with three-word titles that seem constructed by some publishing rubric … And especially nothing that has a cutout on the cover, so that you get, like, a double cover when you lift the real cover.” If Eliot just insulted one of your favor­ite books, don’t be discouraged. I might be wary to take the advice of a boy with green lips too, but Scrambled Eggs at Midnight is everything he promises and more.

This romantic comedy follows Eliot and Cal and the events that ensue as they meet, fall in love and try not to fall apart. The first time I read it, I was smiling constantly. Now, after finishing the book for a fourth time, it’s still there! With its single cover, four-word title, and unusual characters, Scrambled Eggs at Midnight is so entertaining you’ll be dying to read it again.

Eliot is sweet and considerate, but relatively friendless, at his family-run weight loss summer camp that promises help getting “thin with Christ.” Heading the operation is Eliot’s crazy father, a.k.a. “The Dad,” who frequently cites Eliot’s minor misdemeanors as sins because “everything became a sin in 1998.” If that isn’t bad enough, his mother has slowly withdrawn from the entrepreneurial lifestyle “The Dad” has chosen. Eliot’s life is spiraling downward faster than the shell of one of his exploded fireworks – until he meets Cal.

With her pale skin, green eyes, and fiery red hair, Calliope captures Eliot’s heart in one flash of her bright white teeth. She too comes from a dysfunctional family. She acts as the parent, even filing taxes, while her mother, Dolores, plays dress-up as a “wench,” dragging Cal across the country to various Renaissance Faires. Her mother is always looking for the next big thing and fails to notice that Cal misses the father they left behind in Texas. Cal can only tolerate her mother’s nomadic lifestyle for so long.

When Cal’s mom takes her on their next big adventure, fate brings our dynamic duo together. Though it feels like they have always known each other, this is no fairy tale. Trouble is always on the horizon, and Cal has to keep an eye on her aloof mother, who has never understood her desire to stay in one place.

Barkley and Hepler pen charming and relatable characters that pop off the pages of their first novel. Switching perspectives between Eliot and Cal with every chapter, this book is quirky and eccentric. Dialogue, especially between the two, is full of snappy retorts and exciting punch lines so intelligent you’ll wish you’d thought of them. But, in all seriousness, underneath the jokes and laughs, Scrambled Eggs is a heartwarming romance that I have reread and relentlessly recommended to everyone.

This book will have you laughing out loud, rooting for Eliot and Cal, and really, truly wondering, what would Jesus eat?