Sloppy Firsts

By Andrea L.A. -
Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty was my book of choice. This novel is a girl's diary that starts in January of her sophomore year of high school, and runs through December of her Junior year. Jessica Darling is the owner of the diary, and she writes about her life-how much she misses her best friend Hope that just moved away, how much she can't stand her friends, and how no one understands her like Hope does. This novel is so realistic, and while I was reading it I definitely felt like I was reading my own diary sometimes. Jessica is a girl that doesn't know exactly where she belongs, but she definitely knows that she doesn't belong with her current friends. She is basically just counting down until she can leave for college and be with real people that are not the "Bubble-Gum Bimbos" that are her current friends. Jessica struggles with trying to deal with not having her best friend around anymore (which equaled her sanity), her dad being obsessed with her high school track career, and her older sister constantly getting attention for her wedding from her mom. She has a huge crush on a senior that really doesn't know that she exists, her best guy friend wants to date her for the longest time and she constantly turns him down, and she starts befriending the "bad boy" of her high school. The book definitely takes some twist and turns, because she goes from trying to ignore the "bad boy" also known as Marcus Flutie, to actually having a rather large, secret infatuation with him, and the book ending with him also liking her equally. Through out the entire book Jessica is raging with hormones, because she hasn't gotten her period and she doesn't know what is wrong with her. She is so frustrated about it being M.I.A but she knows that she isn't pregnant, but is definitely ready to expel some of the pent-up emotions that she experiences from January until the very end of the book in December, when she finally gets her period again. She not only deals with friend and family drama, but of course boy drama. Drama whether there is a boy in her life or lack thereof. Jessica goes through multiple encounters with boys, whether they like her or she likes them, but she never seems like she is desperate to have a boy like her other friends are. I think that is what makes her so cool is that she has her crushes or her infatuations, but she isn't boy obsessed. She is the typical awkward teenager but she doesn't get carried away with the high school drama, instead she gets annoyed and tries to move on. 

I really loved this book because it was definitely realistic, and it seemed like a healthy read for young girls. If you are currently in high school, than this book is a relief that others feel the same way, and if you're older than you definitely can relate 100%, and be able to laugh at those times. I definitely remember being in high school and seriously thinking that no one understood me, and secretly disliking everyone around because I thought that I was so much better than them, and couldn't wait to get to college. My friends and I had some rough patches and by senior year we were just completely different people. Most of them were going to FSU and rushing, but I on the other hand was going to UCF and anti-Greek in every sense of the word. We valued different things and started seeing the world differently. That is how I completely saw myself in Jessica Darling because through out her entire diary she reveals how cynical and miserable she is because she knows that she is different, but she doesn't want to conform. 

.::Andrea::.


Comments

۞ Lauren said…
I know when I read my book, I could relate so much to the main character. I even felt some of my emotions from back then affect me as I continued reading.
November 3, 2008 at 1:40 PM
Anonymous said…
I love this book so much! Jessica Darling for real is every young grrrl who feels like no one likes her/thinks shes cool etc. She is the ultimate hero for high school grrrls. I know when I read this book i felt very much like she was a friend of mine and that there were other people out there going through what I was :):):)
November 5, 2008 at 2:56 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Film Review

By -
Film Review: Mean Girls Written by Elizabeth Nesbitt This film was written by Tina Frey and Rosalind Wiseman in 2004. This movie deals with several girl issues family, friendships, body image and popularity. The movie begins with Cady played by Lindsay Lohan who had been home schooled in Africa. Her family moved to America in her senior year where she had to attend public high school. When Cady starts school she knows nothing about cliques. The first friends Cady encounters are known as the “Artsy freaks.” Cady then meets the “Plastics” a group of popular, gossiping, shopping, glamorous girls who see themselves as inferior to the other girls in school. Cady starts hanging out with the plastics, when she is really spying for her artsy freak friends. In Africa Cady had a good relationship with her parents and they enjoyed spending time together. Moving to America and attending public school Cady violates her parents trust by lying and having parties. Cady transforms into a plastic, fake
Read more

Maiden, Mother and Crone by Vianny Nunez

By -
Image
  Maiden   Soft, sweet , and silent.   She is youthful , desired by all.    She wears long, beautiful gowns. Awaiting the hand of someone who’s strong and tall.   “A lady only speaks when spoken to.”   Words that have worn her ears before she could lace her own shoes.    “ Don’t eat so much, a lady must always watch her figure.”      The maiden’s first trigger.    You see, she’s been trained and groomed to fit the needs of men.   Before she could even reach the age of ten.    Men are blessed with strength and glor y when they'r e born.    Women? We’re cursed with beauty and immediate scorn.   You want us to fit perfectly into your ideals.    But we’d rather swim with eels.    There is more to her than what you can see.   Have you even asked about her hobbies?   Yes, she can cook and clean,    but she can also create literary scenes .    She aims to soar beyond the trees.   We crave to do what we please,   Without begging for permission from a man on our knees.     
Read more

The G[r]ay Area Between Female Friendship & Sexuality

By -
Image
Heteronormativity is a strange, but powerful thing. When a little girl and little boy play together, adults will project these odd notions onto them, making jokes about a future romance between the children. However, when two girls play together, it isn’t likely the same remarks will be made about their relationship. In Susan Shaw and Janet Lee's chapter on Sex and Intimacy, they detail that sexual scripts “provide frameworks and guidelines for sexual feelings and behaviors in a particular community at a particular time” and marks a crucial note that “foundational in these scripts is the oppositional binary of heterosexuality and homosexuality that constructs normative sexuality and shapes sexual feelings and expression” (281). This social construction, of course, manages to ooze into our media, specifically in its representation of female friendship. As a bisexual woman with many gay friends, a frequent topic of conversation is the almost obligatory heterosexuality among female fr
Read more