A Match Made In High School Review

Title: A Match Made in High School
Author: Kristin  Walker
Publisher: Razorbill
Published Date: February 2010
Price: Amazon ($9.99)
Synopsis:

When the principal announces that every senior must participate in a mandatory year-long Marriage Education program, Fiona Sheehan believes that her life can’t get any worse. Then she marries her “husband”: Jerky jock Todd, whose cheerleader girlfriend, Amanda, has had it in for Fiona since day one of second grade. Even worse? Amanda is paired with Fiona’s long-term crush, Gabe. At least Fiona is doing better than her best friend, Marcie, who is paired up with the very quiet, very mysterious Johnny Mercer. Pranks, fights, misunderstandings, and reconciliations ensue in an almost Shakespearean comedy of errors about mistaken first impressions, convoluted coupling, and hidden crushes. 

Review:

After Some Girls Are’s emotional, heart-jerking journey on high school life, A Match Made in High School was tear-jerking…as I rolled around the floor laughing.

Fiona and the other seniors are shackled in their prison of high school to take a marriage education course, to deter the increasing number of (ahem) playboys and cheating husbands and messy love affairs. Fiona strikes up the funniest and most hilarious “marriage” relation with Todd Harding, a jock.

The hilarity and Fiona’s authentic, sarcastic tone and character really kept the ball moving. The premise was really unique and caught my attention…I mean seriously, a marriage course? How cool would that be (I actually would love it, better than solving math equations or analyzing characters). Fiona really is a fearless and outgoing girl with a humorous mind full of pranks and “insults”. In addition, her journals are hilarious, not only of the actual stories they tell (ah, I love her take on her uncle and Alan) but also the way she explains it. I also loved the fast-paced plot, the twist and turns, the shocking news. There was no time to breathe after laughing.

I have to give it to Walker in emulating the perfect, snarky teenage tone. There are some adult authors, I am sorry, who imitate teenagers into bratty kids (which sometimes we are) or emotionally disturbed and emo kids. Walker really does well in creating the hilarious banters high-schoolers and the sense of sexual humor and innuendos of the pranks and the innuendos. I also actually liked Fiona, even though she was very very selfish in the beginning, which you could tell right away. Even though I hated her a bit in the beginning, her development and the resolution really compensated all the “shaking her shoulders to get her in her right mind” I wanted to do. I actually liked Todd, from the beginning. Even though he was introduced as a jerk by Fiona, I actually grew to like him better than Fiona, because underneath all the insults and pranks, he seemed to actually care for Fiona.

In addition, the themes of looking beneath all the stereotypes of jocks, cheerleaders, dark and mysterious boys, was clearly portrayed well. And the theme of love…and marriage of course. How marriage is really another obstacle to face and is not full of love as they show in those soap operas. I actually felt bad for Principle Miller and got her purpose and her hurtful past.

I actually liked the ending. In the beginning, I was thinking something differently, maybe because I’ve been watching too many Asian dramas, in which you already know who’s going to end up with who. But I was satisfied with the ending and it really tied a nice bow at the end of this hilarious gift.

Plot: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Cover: 4.5/5

The cover is really cute and I think the little puzzle blocks get the sense of the matching in the marriage. Also, the different teenagers show the diversity of high school. However, I’m not sure which one is Fiona. I’m guessing the one on the far left, but she isn’t wearing glasses…so hmm.

Overall: 4/5

If you have a depressing life or just read a depressing book, read this because for sure you will be laughing out loud (please be cautious if you’re reading this book in a public place). Walker does an outstanding job as a debut author to create the snarky and hilarious tone of teenagers. I cannot wait to see what else Walker brings into the YA world.

Some Girls Are Review

Title: Some Girls Are
Author: Courtney Summers
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Published Date: January 2010
Price: Amazon ($9.99)
Synopsis:

Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard--falling from it is even harder. Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High... until vicious rumors about her and her best friend's boyfriend start going around.

Now Regina's been "frozen out" and her ex-best friends are out for revenge. If Regina was guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumors are far from the terrifying truth and the bullying is getting more intense by the day. She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past who she herself used to bully. Friendship doesn't come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend... if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don't break them both first.

Tensions grow and the abuse worsens as the final days of senior year march toward an explosive conclusion in this dark new tale from the author of Cracked Up To Be.

Review: 

 

Some Girls Are…NOT fluffy, cotton candy girls riding the Ferris wheel. Courtney Summers creates a mirror, cracked and grafittied on, of bullying, rumors, gossip, and takes backstabbing to a new level. Every pain and emotion, including the sweet but bitter taste of revenge of not only Regina, but also all the secondary characters is felt by the reader. Every punch to the stomach, every hurtful accusation, and every want for understanding and love.

The Fearsome Five, the elite, but meanest clique of the school, casts out of one of its members, Regina Afton, wrongly accused of sleeping with her best friend’s boyfriend. Vicious rumors, hard-core bullying, and being outcast as a pariah and a slut, creates a whole cycle of cruel accusations and harassment. Regina Afton is far from the perfect friend, not your usual heroine who keeps her head down and tries to make the world a better place. Ok, so you know how everyone says if you go for revenge, you’re going to hurt yourself, but rarely have we wanted to heed to this wise advice. This is why all the characters seem realistic, even though they all come off as mean and villains. Regina doesn’t just want to sit tight and wait for a higher heavenly force to punish the gang, but does it herself and laughs like a hyena (really, she does that a lot) afterwards. However, Regina isn’t just a mean girl; she’s a pack of emotions, a range of personalities, nice, and mean. There were so many times when I wanted to strangle her neck for being so stupid and mean and ARGH, but then there were a lot of times when I want to pat her on her back and sympathize with her. All of the characters, even Kara, who instigated this whole rumor, you hate them because they’re so cruel, but you feel sorry for them because once upon a time, they were victims too of the high school horror.

I don’t know how to really describe this book. This book is just beyond words for me. Emotionally, it really just changed my perspective of what bullying is. And the heart-wrenching romance and relation between Michael and Regina was just…wow. The language Summers creates the characters, the first point perspective of Regina is an emotional turmoil.

One thing I have to complain is the ending. Not that it needed a sequel, but it was way too rushed. The climax happened and then it leaped to the resolution without any real development. I felt that there could have been some filler in between.

Plot: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Cover: 3.5/5

Funny story is when I found the cover in other blogs I thought it was a barn with the red color and the book was about farming. Lol. I like the red locker and it relates to the story due to its symbolic significance. But it isn’t a cover I would have picked up on my first look.

Overall: 5/5

The book doesn’t really need to be constituted in words. It’s just that emotionally traumatic, and for me, personally, it opened my eyes to how scary high school teenagers are and what bullying is, even though we are always warned by teachers to report bullying. If you’re up for an emotional journey (and please be warned that you WILL get addicted…I was carrying this everywhere while I was shopping), Some Girls Are is for you.

Into The Wild Nerd Yonder Review

Title: Into The Wild Nerd Yonder
Author: Julie Halpern
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Published Date: September 2009
Price: Amazon ($11.55)
Synopsis: 

It’s Jessie’s sophomore year of high school. A self-professed “mathelete,” she isn’t sure where she belongs. Her two best friends have transformed themselves into punks and one of them is going after her longtime crush. Her beloved older brother will soon leave for college (and in the meantime has shaved his mohawk and started dating . . . the prom princess!) . . .

Things are changing fast. Jessie needs new friends. And her quest is a hilarious tour through high-school clique-dom, with a surprising stop along the way—the Dungeons and Dragons crowd, who out-nerd everyone. Will hanging out with them make her a nerd, too? And could she really be crushing on a guy with too-short pants and too-white gym shoes? If you go into the wild nerd yonder, can you ever come back? 

Review: 

Halpern is not an author, but a creator; she is God in Into The Wild Nerd Yonder. Jessie literally became my new best friend, someone I can relate to and confide in. Her personality and character development really jumps off the page with her snarky, but sincere, tone. I loved how Jessie contained all the issues of a teenager, the changing environment, the worry of fitting in and society’s standards, but is humorous, as she almost seems to be talking to the reader, sharing snide remarks and jokes, confiding her insecurities with the reader. I also loved the development of the brother and sister relation between Jessie. Their relation is unique and maybe because I have a younger sister, who I constantly fight with, I found Barrett caring and protecting Jessie was adorable. Usually, I would be disappointed that there was no relationship development or problems between the families. However, I felt that adding it would detract from Jessie’s journey of finding her personality and who she really is. I loved how Halpern used Barrett’s own transformation to date the prom queen to support Jessie in breaking out of her shell, and as a supporting plot device.

I find the D&D a hilarious addition, the whole nerd gang making jokes and playing with each other. And Henry was absolutely adorable, lol, “slushy-blue eyes”. Jessie’s gradual acceptance of being a “nerd” and ignoring all social commentary, and her unique personality, had a great thematic ring to it that I think all teenagers can be related to. Everyone has always been worried about not being included in the “in” group and wanted to be popular. The punk addition and the unique creation of the D&D role playing made this book stand out in developing the theme of self-discovery.

However, I wish the second part of the plot was developed and were dedicated more pages to. I loved the first part, even though there were some sexual references that some people might squirm while reading, but Jessie’s wanting for a different and new life, away from her “friends”. The actual meat of the plot, including the romance between Henry and the budding friendship between Jessie and the rest of the D&D gang was rushed into the last part.

Plot: 3/5

Characters: 4/5

Cover: 3/5

I loved the combination between the math dodecahedral and the medieval dress. I also just noticed this sadly, the question mark really does symbolize Jessie’s search for her personality. But I felt that the design of the cover as a whole with random dodecahedral flying in the background made the book seem too childish,  my first impression, but really the book is quite the opposite.

Overall: 3.5/5

The sarcastic and humorous tone of Jessie’s monologue, which make it seem as if the reader and Jessie are close friends, really make the book enjoyable. Her character development and the execution of the theme of not trying to be “in” was really executed well, without all the corniness. I really do hope that there was more romance between Henry and more narration about the D&D gang.