Reviews provided by Syndetics
Publishers Weekly Review
The summer before senior year, life looks good for Katie Ellison, girlfriend of football player Seth Turner (who has "the most sought-after tongue in all of Eastport"). She's waitressing at the Gull 'n Gulp and making out on the sly with Eric Flutely, star of the school musical. With the cash she's sure to earn by placing in the Quahog Princess pageant-one of the four contestants is an anarchist whose platform involves allowing Eastport's famed quahogs (clams) "to live free, without fear of being dug up and eaten"-she can pay off the balance on the professional camera she wants. Then Tommy Sullivan returns to town. Katie and Tommy were close friends until he became a pariah after penning an expose about SAT cheating by football players, a scandal that cost Seth's brother a scholarship. Katie betrayed Tommy rather than be ostracized by association, but Tommy is no longer the skinny brainiac who left Eastport: he's tan, buff and ultra-confident. Boy-crazy Katie, who admits to a kissing addiction, is more than smitten: she may be in love with her boyfriend's archenemy. The lies Katie tells to keep her romantic indiscretions under wraps build until she realizes the truth is her only recourse. It may be a bit tough to conjure sympathy for a pageant contestant with a straight-A average and three hot guys in her orbit-but tweens and teens will likely find this amusing fare as easy to swallow as iced tea on a hot afternoon. Ages 12-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
School Library Journal Review
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 (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Katie Ellison is a big-time liar: she is running for the title of Quahog Princess, but she can't stand the clams her town is famous for, and she juggles two boyfriends. But the lie that weighs on her soul the most is the big secret that she is keeping about her former best friend, Tommy. To complicate matters, Tommy suddenly returns to town after a four-year absence that began after he spilled the beans about local football players who cheated on their SATs. Katie sorts through her attraction to multiple guys, including Tommy, who became all grown up and gorgeous while he was away. Lightweight and predictable, this is still an enjoyable read that's sure to be popular with Cabot's many fans. --Debbie Carton Copyright 2007 Booklist
Horn Book Review
Unlike most of Cabot's protagonists, Katie Ellison lies, cheats on her boyfriend, and turns her back on a friend when he needs her most. Though Katie is unlikely to endear herself to readers, her first-person perspective keeps them close. The book's ending is a little pat, but this exploration of peer pressure and self-acceptance features a refreshingly flawed protagonist. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Book Review
The summer before senior year, Katie Sullivan's on top of the world, especially with Seth, the football team's kicker as her boyfriend, a ranking at the top of her class and a place in her school's popular clique. So what if she had to tell a few white lies to get there? However, when the infamous Tommy Sullivan reappears after four years, much hotter than she remembered, Katie knows she needs a whopper of a lie to disassociate herself from him and to cover up the fact that she can't stop kissing him. After all it was Tommy, her then best friend, whose investigative reporting brought about the end of Eastport High's streak of football championship victories, which, in a football-obsessed Eastport, is inexcusable. Katie's self-centered world-view, which stops at Eastport's town line, might be frustrating to some, but comes across as realistic and refreshingly honest. Unfortunately, a stereotypical and predictable ending dulls the text's reality in a forced attempt to redeem Katie. But it's Cabot, so it won't matter--buy in bulk. (Fiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.