Thursday, July 24, 2014

The Boyfriend List

The Boyfriend List: 15 Guys, 11 Shrink Appointments, 4 Ceramic Frogs and Me, Ruby Oliver (Ruby Oliver #1) by E. Lockhart
Published March 22, 2005


About the Book:

Ruby Oliver is 15 and has a shrink. She knows it’s unusual, but give her a break—she’s had a rough 10 days. In the past 10 days she:

lost her boyfriend (#13 on the list),
lost her best friend (Kim),
lost all her other friends (Nora, Cricket),
did something suspicious with a boy (#10),
did something advanced with a boy (#15),
had an argument with a boy (#14),
drank her first beer (someone handed it to her),
got caught by her mom (ag!),
had a panic attack (scary),
lost a lacrosse game (she’s the goalie),
failed a math test (she’ll make it up),
hurt Meghan’s feelings (even though they aren’t really friends),
became a social outcast (no one to sit with at lunch)
and had graffiti written about her in the girls’ bathroom (who knows what was in the boys’!?!). 

But don’t worry—Ruby lives to tell the tale. And make more lists.

My Thoughts:

This is the first book in a series, and I am still working on getting all of the others.  I have 1, 2, and 4 that I've managed to find at Half Price Books, but I've had no luck finding 3.  I'm going to review the first book for now, since I just read it, but hold off on reading the other three until I order it from Amazon.  I'll review the whole series at that time, as well as each of the other three individually. 

On to book #1 in the Ruby Oliver series.  This is super fluffy but also a cute book that does also have a message.  Ruby Oliver is dealing with things a lot of teenage girls deal with.  She has some misconceptions about relationships with boys, friends, and her parents.  She needs to make mistakes so she can learn from them.  She also needs to gain some self-awareness about the things she is doing wrong, the things that are making her life such a mess.  One thing I really like about the book (a bit of a spoiler) is that some swoon-worthy boy doesn't show up and fix things for her as often happens in YA books with girls like Ruby.  One of her problems is her dependence on boys for measuring her self-worth, and having a boy solve her problems would send the wrong message to other girls in her same situation.  Ruby, with the help of her therapist and her experiences, begins to learn things on her own, and that's important.  Another thing I really liked were the footnotes, as I'm a fan of using them myself.  Here, they put the reader inside Ruby's head a bit more and/or provide important history about situations and people that don't necessarily flow well to be part of the main story, but the details still add something.  The book touches on somewhat serious topics/issues without doing so in a heavy-handed way.  It deals with the sometimes rough and ugly sides of being a teen while still keeping things light and teaching something without being so blatant.  I think most teen girls would benefit from reading it.  





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