Save Steve

From Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan, authors of Unpregnant—now a movie streaming on HBO Max, starring Haley Lu Richardson and Barbie Ferreira—comes a twist on the cancer love story that’s dark humor mixed with quirky fun. Think Dirty Rotten Scoundrels meets The Fault in Our Stars.

Named a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults nominee!

"This book is packed with humor. Every character is well developed and has their complexities.” —School Library Journal

Steve Stevenson is a jerk. That might not be a cool thing to say about someone with cancer, but it’s true. Yeah, he throws legendary parties and is the most popular guy in school, but he also loves humiliating pranks and Cardi B, and he doesn’t recycle. Worst of all, he’s dating Kaia—the girl of nice guy Cam’s dreams.

But when a desperate Kaia asks Cam to help her raise money to pay for Steve’s experimental treatment, Cam offers to organize the biggest, most viral fundraising campaign. Maybe then Kaia will finally see Cam as the perfect, thoughtful, altruistic, good guy for her.

But Steve’s no fool. He’s totally on to Cam’s plan. And to stop him from stealing his girlfriend, he’s going to do whatever it takes to make Cam’s life as miserable as his own.

From Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan, authors of Unpregnant, comes a quirky, funny story about living up to other people’s expectations and what it really means to do the right thing.

One fundraiser. Two sworn rivals. And a girl who has no idea what’s happening behind the scenes.

• The Bad Boy vs. The Nice Guy: Steve is the most popular guy in school. Cam recycles. When they’re forced to work together to save Steve’s life, their battle for Kaia’s heart goes nuclear.
• Dark Comedy for Teens: A laugh-out-loud story that finds humor in the darkest of places, proving that even a cancer diagnosis can’t stop an epic prank war.
• A Twist on the Cancer Love Story: Perfect for fans of John Green, this novel flips the script on the typical sick-lit romance, asking what it really means to be a hero when no one is perfect.
• Hilarious High School Hijinks: From viral fundraising stunts gone wrong to epic revenge plots, Cam and Steve’s rivalry is as heartfelt as it is unforgettable.

Jenni Hendriks’s mom often complained she was “a real smart**s,” so she decided to make a career out of it. She moved to Hollywood and worked her way from coffee-fetcher to writer for the television series How I Met Your Mother. She is also a cartoonist whose feminist-inspired works have been published in Ms. magazine. A film school graduate, she knows how to rack focus and wrangle a cable and can tell you what a best boy does.

Ted Caplan has been working in the film industry for over twenty years as a writer, sound designer, and music editor. He has helped craft the soundtracks to many high-profile projects, such as The Maze Runner, Logan, both Deadpool films, and The Hate U Give. He is also the screenwriter of Love Sonia, a feature film about international sex trafficking from the producers of Life of Pi and Slumdog Millionaire.