Reviews

Gr 9 Up-It's the summer before her senior year in high school, and Katie Ellison has discovered the thrills of making out behind the back of her sweet but bland football player boyfriend in this novel by Meg Cabot (HarperTeen, 2007). She regrets the web of lies that her various shenanigans have required, but just can't seem to stop herself. Her talent for photography, dependability on the job, environmental consciousness, and reputation as a star student rescue her from a bad-girl image for everyone except herself. Katie knows that she had a part in ruining a good friend back in the eighth grade in order to become part of the in-crowd. And now that boy, Tommy Sullivan, is back in town and she's even making out with him. How much more complicated could one girl's life be? Narrator Krista Sutton brings Katie to life with a reading that exudes hormones. Listeners will be aware of the "good" Katie trying to re-make the "bad" girl as Sutton's reading moves the situation to a pivotal tell-all moment. She masterfully lets listeners hear Katie's eye-rolling and finger-crossing. Cabot fans will like this light-hearted story full of summer fun, dreams come true, and a happy ending, even though the plot is predictable.-Jane P. Fenn, Corning-Painted Post West High School, NY Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.