Meet Me at the Picket Line

“A swoon worthy romance wrapped in courage, solidarity, and queer happiness!”—Mason Deaver, bestselling author of I Wish You All the BestUnionizing his job wasn’t on Eli Goldstein’s summer bucket list—but neither was falling for his irritatingly self-righteous and handsome school rival. Sparks fly on the picket line in this hilarious, coming-of-age rom-com that’s perfect for fans of Jason June, Page Powars, and A.M. Woody! All’s fair in love and solidarity... Eli Goldstein might be the only teenager looking forward to earning minimum wage at his objectively terrible summer job. Not only will he be working at the kitschy roadside museum he loves, he’ll finally have the down payment for his top surgery with a first-class surgeon. But the museum really is a late-stage capitalist hellscape, and Eli’s co-workers—led by his irritatingly self-righteous and annoyingly attractive school rival, Efraín—plan to unionize. With his sanity and safety at risk on the job, Eli knows he has to join their campaign. If he and Efraín can stop bickering long enough to keep their ragtag union together, they might actually have a shot. But when management begins to grow suspicious, Eli will have to make a choice: Is he willing to stand in solidarity with his friends and the boy he’s starting to fall for, even if it means risking his job and the key to his life-changing surgery?Labor Rights Summer Meets Rivals-to-Lovers: Eli came to collect a paycheck, not his morally supervisor classroom rival who looks ridiculously good yelling through a megaphone. Forced Proximity Meets Slow-Burn Romance: Working side by side (and arguing nonstop) at their summer job turns bickering into something deeper, whether Eli and Efraín are ready for it or not. Fall for the Boy, Fight the System: If Eli is risking everything to fight for his rights, he might as well risk his heart too.