What’s it about?
Shea Walker loves football. LOVES it. She lives in small-town Texas, where she grew up, best friends with the college football coach’s daughter, Lucy. When Lucy’s mother dies (right at the beginning of the book) Shea starts to look at her easy life. She gets kicks in the pants along the way from her loving family and friends, too. It’s not just her.
Why should you read it?
Emily Giffin writes books that take a romantic structure (Shea has three different boyfriends through the novel) and turns it into the protagonist figuring out who she is. It’s a thing that’s shared with some of the better YA books, even though the main character in this one is 33. She’s living in an extended adolescence – it’s time for her to grow up. The One and Only is Shea figuring out how to grow up, and who she is as an adult.