The Crazy Things Girls Do for Love

Description

Review Falling in love blends with saving the earth in Sheldon s latest novel, and both dramas are passionate, urgent, transforming, and hilarious. When drop-dead-gorgeous Cody, an ardent environmentalist, arrives at a new high school, everyone wants to date him: the in-crowd, as well as the nerds, goths, and geeks. Forget hugging trees. They all want to hug Cody. As he leads the big celebration for Earth Day, the details are laugh-out-loud funny, not only about the changes in queen-bee Sicilee (who eshews shopping and gorgeous mink coats), but also with the extremes among the vegan crowd (a party with no electricity is a total flop). The free-flying insults are fun, and yet with all the mockery and standoffs, readers will get the go green messages, such as learning to read the labels in their cosmetics for healthy, earth-conscious ingredients. With plenty of wry romance, the story builds to a save-the-trees climax that also brings a change in Cody. Hazel Rochman --BooklistSuperior comic writing combined with a major snark factor turns this full-on chick-lit outing into major fun. Fashion addict Sicilee and her despised mega-rival, artsy Maya, dominate the popular set of their high school. Meanwhile, the out group, including frumpy Waneeda and eco-warrior Clemens, live in obscurity, eating at the nerd table in the cafeteria. Enter new student Cody, the most pulse-throbbing, eyeball-popping, drop-dead gorgeous boy anyone at the school has ever seen. Instantly, all the girls fall for him, including, secretly, Waneeda. Sicilee and Maya, however, enter an all-or-nothing war to snag Cody as a boyfriend. Suave, charming Cody, meanwhile, treats everyone the same, including the out group, but shows no interest in anything other than the nerdy environmental club. Sicilee and Maya focus their efforts into working for the formerly scorned club in their attempts to attract Cody, and they begin to find interests beyond their accustomed resolute superficiality. Sheldon lustily lampoons high-school social systems, flinging zinger metaphors onto nearly every page, such as describing the social hierarchy as slightly more rigid than that of feudal Europe, but she also gets under her characters skins. Despite the breezy tone, the story ends up with a hint of depth and an emphasis on going green. Plenty of witty merriment for all high-school social sets. (Chick-lit comedy. 12-18) --KirkusGoing green is initially more about romance than righteousness for high school rivals Sicilee and Maya, but their attempts to do so provide lots of laughs. It all begins when the girls vie for the attention of gorgeous new student Cody Lightfoot ( His are the kind of impossible good looks that make even the least impressionable of people think, My God! Is that what humans are supposed to look like? ). When he shows an interest in joining the school s environmental club previously the most pathetic club in the whole universe and starts planning an Earth Day fair, the competition is on. Using drily funny third-person narration to expose various characters hypocrisies, Sheldon (My Worst Best Friend) shows impeccable comic timing and a strong sense of irony as she traces Sicilee s and Maya s education in veganism and their mostly unsuccessful attempts to persuade friends and family that their newfound desire to reduce, reuse, and recycle is sincere. Underlying the episodes is a relevant message about dwindling resources, as both heroines begin to realize that their environmental efforts may be more vital than snagging a boy. Ages 12 14. (Dec.) --Publishers Weekly About the Author Dyan Sheldon is the author of many books for young people, including Confessions of a Tenage Drama Queen, My Perfect Life, And Baby Makes Two, Planet Janet and a number of stories for younger readers. She also writes books for adults. American by birth, Dyan lives in North London.