Ahhh, I needed this book! So many quotable quotes--I laughed, smirked, and smiled. Jessie is a sophomore and things are changing. Her two best friends decide to go punk overnight--things to a spending spree at Hot Topic. Jessie is kinda more punk than them. I mean, at least she can play the drums and her brother is in a punk band. But her friends are more interested in hanging out with Jessie's brother's friends than Jessie. And so, slowly, Jessie realizes that maybe they aren't true friends. This book has one of the best brother-sister relationships portrayed in YA lit. Jessie and her older brother Barrett are only two years apart in age, but are very close. She's going to miss him next year when he goes off to school, and it's great to see their relationship strengthen as they begin dating.
It's also rare to find a YA novel that deal with sexually transmitted diseases. Jessie's friend gets gonorrhea from one stupid night. Jessie has to take her to a clinic, and it even leads to her brother getting involved and telling the boy. They try to make things right--the idiot is supposed to tell his "list" of girls that he's infected. It's rare to see something like this handled as well as it was in this book--I was impressed. It wasn't preachy, but the reader learned how kids are supposed to act.
And, hey, there's Dungeons & Dragons. Done well. Sure, Jessie might be turning into a bigger nerd than ever before, but she's choosing that road and having fun doing it! I highly, highly recommend this read and I'm glad it was nominated for the Geek/Nerd list for PPYA.
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