Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters
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4.3 • 34 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Laugh-out-loud funny high school drama - perfect for fans of Lauren Myracle and Meg Cabot
Let's say you're fourteen and live in New York City. You'd think your life would be like a glamorous TV show, right? And yet . . . You don't have a checking account, much less a personal Black American Express card. You've never been to a club, and the only couture in your closet is a Halloween costume your mom made from an old laundry bag.
In other words? You're Kelsey Finkelstein - fourteen and frustrated. Every time she tries to live up to her awesome potential, her plans are foiled. Kelsey wants to rebrand herself for high school to make the kind of mark she knows is her destiny. But just because Kelsey has a plan for greatness . . . it doesn't mean the rest of the world is in on it.
Kelsey's hilarious commentary and sardonic narration of her freshman year will have readers laughing out loud - while being thankful that they're not in her shoes, of course.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In voiceover artist Zeitlin's debut novel, Brooklynite Kelsey Finkelstein the latest in a long line of self-obsessed protagonists who can't see past their own problems hopes to "make a mark" in her freshman year of high school. But from the tacky red blazer her mother forces her wear to school to getting stuck playing goalie on the JV soccer team and landing the role of a fat, middle-aged butcher in the school production of Fiddler on the Roof, nothing is going according to plan. Meanwhile, one of Kelsey's best friends turns traitor by hooking up with a boy Kelsey has "had the world's biggest crush since approximately birth." Kelsey's travails are entertaining, but it's hard not to feel like Zeitlin is playing her heroine for a buffoon (perhaps most egregiously when Kelsey decides not to listen to the song "Defying Gravity" before performing it for an audition). And while underage drinking is hardly taboo in YA novels, there's a surprising amount of it, nearly all consequence-free, other than the chipped tooth Kelsey gets just one more woe-is-me moment for our girl. Ages 12 up.
Customer Reviews
Charming and hilarious.
Absolutely charming. SLIGHT SPOILER: As a gay man, I couldn't help but feel proud at how far a young adult novel has come since I was a Freshman in High School. Having a supported character instantly accepted by her closest friends tugged at the heart strings. This book is for everyone and offers a fresh take on adolescents in an incredibly refreshing and humorous way. Five Stars !!! (ps. This has featured film written all over it)