Available:*
Library | Material Type | Item Barcode | Shelf Number | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library | Teen Fiction Book Paperback | 120791002598851 | T VAI | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Charlie Collins has never been kissed.
She's never been in love, either. Charlie's beautiful best friend, Tess, has kissed three boys and has loved each one of them. Then Charlie unexpectedly finds herself falling for Kevin, and she's in a mess of trouble right away. For one thing, Tess is in love with Kevin. Even worse, his father seems to be dating Charlie's mom, who suddenly can't stop smiling. With no one to confide in, Charlie has to figure this one out for herself. But even as she tries to pull away from Kevin, she can't stop wondering, What would happen if we kiss?
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7-9-High school freshman Charlie is ready for her first kiss. The big day arrives when Kevin Lazarus chooses her, taking her by the hand and leading her outside. Charlie, who before the kiss doesn't particularly like him, finds herself both intrigued and grossed out by the germs to which she's been exposed. She is not sure if it really happened and she tells no one, not even her best friend, Tess. Her confusion is further compounded when Tess sets her eyes on Kevin and wins his affections, her mother becomes romantically involved with Kevin's father, and Charlie becomes increasingly more obsessed with the teen. Over Christmas break, she and her mother go on a skiing vacation with the Lazarus family, and Mr. Lazarus and Charlie's mom become engaged. Charlie is once again kissed by Kevin; from here on the plot focuses on Charlie obsessing over kissing Kevin again and her feelings of guilt about her lack of honesty toward her best friend. Unfortunately, other conflicts in the story aren't as fully developed. However, Charlie tells her story in a fresh voice and begins to realize that there is a difference between being obsessed and truly caring about someone. While Charlie and Tess are typical teenagers navigating their way through high school angst, Kevin remains one-dimensional and readers learn little about him besides his habit of kissing girls. A light read for fans of Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's "Alice" series (S & S).-Angela M. Boccuzzi-Reichert, Merton Williams' Middle School, Hilton, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Vail (the Friendship Ring series) proves that first love is anything but simple and sweet in this lively contemporary novel narrated by high-school freshman Charlotte ("Charlie") Collins. Charlie's dreams about what it would be like to be kissed by a boy ("Maybe there would be a tree above us, maybe some music would be playing") turn out to be a far cry from the actuality of her first smooch with flirtatious Kevin Lazarus. For one thing, the kiss occurs in a less than ideal setting, against the back wall of the school building ("a decorative sticking-out brick was digging into my backbone") and the head ninth-grade teacher, who witnesses the whole thing from his window, reports the incident to Charlie's mother. While Charlie vacillates between humiliation and infatuation with Kevin, her best friend Tess (who knows nothing about the kiss) also falls for Kevin. Meanwhile, Charlie's divorced mother coincidentally becomes smitten with Kevin's father. Overwhelmed by the complexities of love and lust, Charlie finds herself on the sharp point of a love triangle, knowing it is just a matter of time before someone gets hurt. The author's frank representation of teen sentiments and razor-sharp wit will keep readers turning pages to see how Charlie will handle her dilemmas, which grow increasingly complicated with each chapter. Charlie does not escape unscathed, yet her ability to rebound from heartbreak and embarrassment is reassuring and convincing. Ages 12-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Middle School, High School) ""My first kiss. Well, it was disgusting, but I liked it."" So begins fourteen-year-old Charlie's all-consuming crush on Kevin, ""exactly the kind of boy who has never interested [her] at all"" until he plants one on her before homeroom. Charlie (short for Charlotte) is a funny, intelligent narrator who obsesses believably about all aspects of her infatuation: ""What if kissing is like gymnastics and if you don't start really young, you'll never be any good at it?"" Complications soon surface when Charlie's best friend Tess starts going out with Kevin before Charlie has a chance to tell Tess about her own entanglement with him. Discovering that her mother and Kevin's father, who are both divorced, are romantically involved only heightens her feelings of guilt, anger, and confusion. Nuanced characterization and down-to-earth humor keep the whole entertaining mess from degenerating into soap opera. Along the way, Charlie learns that true love is probably more than ""a chemical reaction"" and that sometimes the person from whom you most need forgiveness is yourself. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Kisses take on a whole new dimension in this touching and tangled teen drama. High-school freshman Charlotte, "Charlie," doesn't fit in with the sports crowd or the brainy set and she's never been kissed. Although Charlie admits she's "ready to kiss someone," she is startled when the class Romeo, Kevin Lazarus, unexpectedly French kisses her at school, triggering a series of bewildering events. As she sorts through her own feelings for Kevin, Charlie discovers her best friend Tess has also fallen for him. To complicate matters further, Charlie's mother announces she has fallen in love with Kevin's divorced father. With a crush on her best friend's boyfriend--her future stepbrother--Charlie faces one moral dilemma after another, but she does it with humor and a certain charm. A confused Charlie ends up spending her freshman year trying to diagnose what's going on, what she really wants and who's kissing whom. Amazing what one kiss can do. (Fiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 7-10. As the story begins, without a word being spoken, ninth-grader Charlotte (Charlie ) is maneuvered into a French kiss by Kevin Lazarus. New to kissing, Charlie is impressed but foresees nothing but complications. Her best friend, Tess, is Kevin's girlfriend, and Kevin's father is dating Charlie's mother. Charlie keeps the kiss to herself, obsesses about it, and tries to forget it, and then, at a family ski trip (stepsibling status is only months away), Kevin kisses her again. What does it all mean? In Charlie's funny first-person voice (she is much funnier and more knowing than any ninth-grader on the planet), Vail ponders until, frankly, readers may tire of the question. Subplots, such as Charlie's moment (and it's only a moment) as a crusader for freedom of the press, barely make a dent in her Kevin-kiss fixation. There are some very appealing elements here, including the remarriage of a divorced parent. However, the story is at its best when Charlie must grapple with pursuing a crush and staying loyal to a friend--a situation that will resonate with Vail's many fans. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2005 Booklist