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Summary
Summary
"Mackler's unsentimental feel for how kids think and talk, and how they go about entering the grown-up world, makes V's journey engrossing." -- The New York Times Books Review
Ever since V's mom dumped her with her grandparents, she's bounced from guy to guy. That is, until a fateful hockey puck lands her in the lap of Sam Almond, who is different from the start. But V makes an irreversible mistake at her graduation party and risks losing Sam forever, spurring her on a crosscountry road trip to visit her mom in hopes of putting two thousand miles between herself, Sam, and the wreckage of that night. With humor and compassion, Carolyn Mackler takes readers on an unforgettable ride of missed exits, misadventures, and the kind of epiphanies that come only when you're on a route you've never taken before.
Reviews (6)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Wild child V Valentine, who first appeared in Carolyn Mackler's Vegan Virgin Valentine is back in Guyaholic. For the first time, V thinks she might actually like the latest boy in her life. But events send her on a cross-country road trip in an attempt to reconnect with her mother and discover her true self. (Candlewick, $16.99 192p ages 14-up ISBN 9780-7636-2537-5; Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
This companion to Vegan Virgin Valentine finds V living with her grandparents in New York state and dating nice-guy Sam. As her feelings for Sam grow, she gets scared and kisses another boy, then embarks on a solo road trip to visit her flaky mom in Texas. V's vulnerability is palpable, and readers will root for her to come to peace with herself. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Readers first met V as a supporting character in Vegan Virgin Valentine (2004). Here she steps center stage, still living with her grandparents and still sleeping around. Then a hockey puck hits her in the head, and she literally falls into the arms of Sam Almond. Sam is everything V is not organized, directed, and a virgin (though not after V gets done with him). Stable relationships are something V knows little about, thanks to her mother, who lives with someone known only as the Cowboy. So V messes up by making out with another guy, and Sam splits for California, prompting V to visit her mother. It's all pretty predictable: the reasons for V's roaming, her mother's problems, and a denouement that is broadcast long before it occurs. But as in the previous book, V comes across as an engaging character whose struggles seem very real. The details of her road trip are written with humor and verve, and the sex, while prevelant, is not graphic. There's also a sweetness here that makes V and Sam worth rooting for.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2007 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
Fat Cat's sheepish grin is the running punch line in this cheerful, boldly designed picture book (in cartoony typefaces named Chaloops and Eatwell Chubby, according to the end-papers). Fun to read aloud, it would also make an effective early reader for preschoolers: "Will Fat Cat sit on ... the cow?" - here the cow emits a worried "Moo?" - "No! Fat Cat will not sit on the cow!" By the end, the cow, a pig, a dog and a chicken can be thankful to a mouse for providing a nice fat chair. GREEN AS A BEAN. By Karla Kuskin. Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. Laura Geringer/HarperCollins. $16.99. (Ages 3 to 8) "What would you be if you were green? ... Would you still be you?" Kuskin's more than 50 books of poetry and prose include many gems like that one. Originally published in 1960 under the title "Square as a House," "Green as a Bean" glows with inviting new drawings by Iwai and poses the same playful yet profound questions to get young readers thinking (and probably doodling): if you were green, square, loud or small, what would you be? JACK PLANK TELLS TALES. By Natalie Babbitt. Michael di Capua/Scholastic. $15.95. (Ages 8 and up) In her latest book, Babbitt takes an old-fashioned concept and gives it storytelling verve. Jack Plank is a sailor who loses his job on a pirate ship (he was bad at pillaging). While looking haplessly for a job in a Caribbean port town, he entertains his fellow guests at a rooming house with one tall tale after another: the mummy searching for its missing hand, the seaman who set off in search of a mermaid. There's even a story about a troll and a bridge. The earnestness of Jack's delivery adds to the charm, as do Babbitt's comical line drawings. THE WICKED NG TODDLAH. By Kevin Hawkes. Knopf. $16.99. (Ages 4 to 8) With booties as big as tractors, a giant baby lands in a small town in Maine - and quickly becomes the "wicked big toddlah" of the title. As huge as Gulliver, "Toddie" bawls in a mammoth cradle, has his diaper changed by heavy equipment and plays with the boats in the bay. The cheerful absurdity of this setup works best in the more slapstick scenes, as when Toddie helps his family during sugaring season, with a moose, an ax and Grandpa in his rocking chair all stuck to his coat with maple syrup. SOME DOG! By Mary Casanova. Illustrated by Ard Hoyt. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. $16. (Ages 3 to 6) George, a basset hound, has "a good life" - until a stray dog arrives, a top-speed, curly-haired showoff who takes over the house. Sleepy George can't compete. The new pooch, Zippity, rushes ahead to the grocery store and steals George's sleeping spot. When Zippity gets himself put out of the house in a storm, though, George proves his loyalty and big-heartedness, bringing a satisfying conclusion to his annoying predicament The parallels to an attention-grabbing younger sibling may reassure older and wiser members of the household that their places are secure. GUYAHOLIC. By Carolyn Mackler. Candlewick. $16.99. (Ages 14 and up) V lives with her grandparents in upstate New York, and as high school graduation looms she waits to see if her mother will let her down one more time. Sure enough, she does: Mom can't make it from Texas. So V begins a cross-country trip to see her, which leaves her plenty of time to ponder the meaningless relationships she's had with guys - and to realize that her boyfriend, Sam, may be something different In spite of the novel's familiar teenage trappings. Madder's unsentimental feel for how kids think and talk, and how they go about entering the grown-up world, makes V's Journey engrossing. JULIE JUST
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-This sequel to Vegan Virgin Valentine (Candlewick, 2004) focuses on Mara Valentine's niece, all-round wild-child Vivienne. After V is hit in the head by a flying hockey puck and lands in the lap of nice-guy Sam, the two become sexually involved. However, V, who has been disappointed repeatedly by her irresponsible mother and is afraid of commitment, resists calling Sam her "boyfriend" or acknowledging that he's more than just another hookup. When Aimee again disappoints V by missing her high school graduation, she reacts by picking a fight with Sam and then cheating on him with another guy. She's caught in the act by Sam's sister and they break up. When Aimee invites V to visit her in San Antonio, V seizes on this opportunity as a distraction from her heartbreak and drives by herself from New York to Texas. Like all good road trips in fiction, this one ends up being a journey of self-discovery as V's encounters along the way help her to realize certain truths about herself and her relationships. This is a fun, breezy read that fans of the first book will especially enjoy. There are no surprises here, but V's troubled relationship with her mother rings true, and teens will be rooting for the protagonist to pull herself together.-Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Readers who know brazen, boy-crazy V from her aunt Mara's perspective (Vegan Virgin Valentine, 2004), will enjoy her first-person narration here, which reveals no inner brashness but rather a struggle for--and against--emotional distance. V is now 17, a senior, expecting faraway mother Aimee to visit for graduation. Everyone except V recognizes Aimee's flakiness; V's ever-attentive grandparents try their best to fill in, but V misses Aimee, whose history of moving V around the country following men has formed V's makeup more than she wishes to admit. V hooks up regularly with hottie Sam but steadfastly denies that their relationship is loving or serious. Desperate to stay detached, V cheats on Sam and he moves away. Driving across country to visit Aimee, V finally confronts her mother's long-term absence and how it has informed V's own boy-chasing. Eye-opening as a sequel yet solid on its own, V's narration is simple and accessible as she learns to be brave. (Fiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.