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
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