The third installment in the Gert Garibaldi’s Rants and Raves series finds the smart, plucky heroine fending off wolf-like advances from her dud of a boyfriend, playing peacemaker between her gay best friend and his boyfriend and coping with her dad’s sudden illness. Kizer breaks no new ground with her plotting, but in the world of chick lit, characterization is the power player that can make or break a title’s success. Gert’s unique, near-feminist perspective is dead-on, and without her wonderfully sassy, no-nonsense voice, the series wouldn’t stand a chance against the genre’s more celebrated staples. As a result, the ordinary events in Gert’s life become extraordinary, hilarious and occasionally witty, and readers will find a heroine that they can both identify with and admire. Atypical chick-lit fare that deserves to stand beside McCafferty, Cabot and Rennison. (Fiction. YA)
