Hard on the heels of Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (not reviewed) and that ilk, three 13-year-olds face life and boys in this first of the trilogy published in England in 1997 (Girls Under Pressure and Girls Out Late will follow). Ellie is the narrator, small, round, and determined to find a boyfriend. Her two best friends are the Goth Nadine and the glam Magda, and the girls’ unaffected relationships with each other ring very true. Ellie’s voice is sharp and self-involved, and readers will cringe with embarrassment with her over her chronic lateness to school, the boy she meets on holiday in Wales with his terrible hair, and other standard adolescent misadventures. Nadine gets involved with a much older boy, Ellie goes to her first couple of parties and crashes her first club, and she learns a bit more than she wanted to know about her dad and stepmom’s relationship. Ellie’s narrative is interspersed with funny little lists of nine things: nine wishes; nine dreams; and nine most embarrassing moments, which provide both giggles and heart-tugging moments. With its hot pink cover, no boys will be caught dead picking this up, which is too bad, for they would learn a lot if they did. (Fiction. 12-15)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-385-72974-X
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2001
A teenager concocts a risky private game that almost leads to tragedy in this character portrait of a borderline obsessive-compulsive from Tashjian (Tru Confessions, 1997). Weary of incessant worrying, regrets, and mental instant replays, Monica tries a distraction; drawing on her fondness for anagrams and other wordplay, she performs an act either a) normal, b) silly, c) mean, or d) sacrificial, depending on which of four Scrabble letters she draws. Repeated drawings lead to several good deeds, which are more than balanced out by embarrassing or painful ones. Soon Monica has made herself wear pajamas to school, give away her prized kaleidoscope, alienate her best friend, and, after locking Justin, the preschooler she babysits, in his room, driven him to jump from a window and scratch his cornea. Monica comes off more as a born fretter than someone with an actual disorder, so her desperation seems overdone; the game appears less a compulsion than a bad decision that gets out of hand. Still, readers will feel Monica’s thrill when she takes charge, and also, with uncommon sharpness, her bitter remorse after Justin’s accident. Once Monica’s secret is out, Tashjian surrounds her with caring adults and, turning her penchant for self-analysis in more constructive directions, leads her to the liberating insight that she’s been taking herself too seriously. As a light study in how self-absorption can sometimes help as well as hurt, Multiple Choice is a fitting choice. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: June 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-6086-3
Page Count: 186
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
When Ben’s father went to Willamette View, where Ben is starting as a freshman, he was a killer quarterback. Ben, also a talented football player, has always been proud to be a chip off the old block, until the day his father announces he is gay and moves in with his lover. Deeply ashamed, Ben does his best to keep his father’s new life a secret, especially from his tough- talking, hyper-masculine fellow athletes. As Ben struggles to act cool and be one of the guys, he learns that no one is immune from social pressure and that most of his contemporaries posture and pretend. The characters, while sympathetic and understandable, aren’t emotionally involving, and the ending—Ben gets emergency help from his father’s lover and realizes that he still cares for his father—is too pat. Bechard (My Mom Married the Principal, 1998, etc.) is particularly good with dialogue; her characters’ off-center, awkward conversations reveal a lot, while sounding clumsily authentic. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: June 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-670-88547-9
Page Count: 186
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1999
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