Reviewed by Olivia
Rating: High Five
Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of the Spy School series, Smile, and stories about middle-school age girls (with an interesting twist.)
Synopsis (from Amazon):
This debut tween novel stars the hilariously fresh Charlie Cooper as she tries to ditch her middle-child reputation and make cool friends at her new school in Los Angeles.
But being cool isn't as easy as it looks—especially when her dandruff-ridden psychologist tasks Charlie with finding the biggest loser in school and becoming her friend. In public.
As Charlie says, "Just kill me now, please."
Rating: High Five
Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of the Spy School series, Smile, and stories about middle-school age girls (with an interesting twist.)
Synopsis (from Amazon):
This debut tween novel stars the hilariously fresh Charlie Cooper as she tries to ditch her middle-child reputation and make cool friends at her new school in Los Angeles.
But being cool isn't as easy as it looks—especially when her dandruff-ridden psychologist tasks Charlie with finding the biggest loser in school and becoming her friend. In public.
As Charlie says, "Just kill me now, please."
Thoughts: I want to start by saying I have a problem with this version of a synopsis (it's different from the jacket-cover one). It doesn't describe that the main character, Charlie C. Cooper, has been expelled from her old school because she did something so terrible (so bad even, that her family has to move cities). She is also a "gifted hacker, fashionista, and biggest pranker in her class." Just to clarify :)
I'm not normally drawn to these types of books, but the cover and the synopsis immediately grabbed me and I couldn't stop reading until I had finished this. Even then, I've reread it multiple times just because it is such an enjoyable story. Charlie is such a genius character, and I'm constantly laughing out loud when I read some of her snide-ish remarks. The funny thing is, I originally started reading and thought this girl could not be more unlike me. But as I continued reading, I realized that underneath Charlie's character is one literally any girl could relate to - something I love. Marta was also an amazing character for similar reasons. Maria T. Lennon has an incredible ability to weave many layers of a character in and then tie them all together in - really - beautiful ways. The writing, as I said above, is witty and fun, a perfect balance to the slightly more serious and real story (by real I mean that there are a lot of bullying issues and social-services type of things with Marta, which is something that is very realistic and not very funny at all). Overall, an exciting, enjoyable, yet beautiful read.
I'm not normally drawn to these types of books, but the cover and the synopsis immediately grabbed me and I couldn't stop reading until I had finished this. Even then, I've reread it multiple times just because it is such an enjoyable story. Charlie is such a genius character, and I'm constantly laughing out loud when I read some of her snide-ish remarks. The funny thing is, I originally started reading and thought this girl could not be more unlike me. But as I continued reading, I realized that underneath Charlie's character is one literally any girl could relate to - something I love. Marta was also an amazing character for similar reasons. Maria T. Lennon has an incredible ability to weave many layers of a character in and then tie them all together in - really - beautiful ways. The writing, as I said above, is witty and fun, a perfect balance to the slightly more serious and real story (by real I mean that there are a lot of bullying issues and social-services type of things with Marta, which is something that is very realistic and not very funny at all). Overall, an exciting, enjoyable, yet beautiful read.
