IMAGE+NATION: ERIN’S GUIDE TO KISSING GIRLS

According to Erin, there are seven steps to attaining a first kiss – from initial impression to ultimate embrace – but she will learn that there is no simple guide to navigating the gauntlet of infatuation, best friendship, and the middle school muddle in this Toronto-set, comics-splashed rom-com.

Erin (Elliot Stocking) is delightfully dorky, concocting fanfics for her favourite comics characters, Lunar Girl and Scarlet Sparrow, who she envisions as alter egos to herself and her athletic BFF, Liz (Jesyca Gu). When Erin goes all dewy-eyed for Sydni (Rosali Annikie), a former child YouTube star rocking a “The future is fluid” t-shirt, her fixation leads to Operation Catch That Kiss. By the Fall Formal, Erin intends to win Sydni over, appointing Liz as her “wingwoman.” But unexplored jealousies turn into rifts, the two besties unable to appreciate what’s important to the other. Perfect for those seeking a follow-up to the star-dusted earnestness of Heartstopper, Erin’s Guide is set resonantly in the years when what’s cool and what’s lame is constantly renegotiated, and precious parts of childhood come crumbling down so that perhaps something new can grow out of what remains.