Between Friends — Matthue Roth

Ethan Eden is totally ok with being a geek. Well, mostly.

Until he meets Larissa.

Popular, smart and beautiful enough to star in one of his favorite comic books, she puts the "cool" in "cool girl." He can hardly believe it when they become friends, and soon the pair are trading late night calls, meeting between religious school classes to continue one of their epic conversations and planning the perfect Sweet Sixteen birthday party for Larissa, when he plans to tell her he loves her.

But then something dark and unforgivable happens to Larissa, and suddenly, everything changes.

Ethan wants to be strong for Larissa, but he's surprised to find it's not so simple. The attack arouses complicated questions about friendship, masculinity and Ethan's own emerging sexuality. As he struggles to salvage his disintegrating relationship with the now withdrawn Larissa, he increasingly escapes into the imaginary world of comic books, forcing himself to ask the question: Is he the hero, the villain, or something else altogether?

Narrated with Ethan's unique blend of oddball humor, pop culture references, and pathos, "Between Friends" is a heartfelt story about falling in love when everything else is falling apart.