A Short History of the Girl Next Door by Jared ReckMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This audiobook read awesomely by Michael Chamberlain nails the Wow what a tear jerker, heart breaking story of best friends viewed from Matt's POV ( I would have loved to gotten Tabby's POV) as they enter high school. Matt & Tabby have been inseparable since they were babies (Matt's family helps raise Tabby because she has single Dad, no other family), lived across the street, played, and laughed. Matt loves basketball, has such an insecure brain (it does more harm than good) and fell in love with his best friend when they were 12 years old and they were being bullied and Tabby came to the rescue. Matt never tells Tabby about his feelings but hopes she knows. Mistake #1 because Tabby is a very special girl and as 9th graders, senior Liam Branson falls for her. Matt hates him (but Branson is nice, nice, nice) and after seeing Branson pick her up Matt stays up all night fighting jealousy and make a "do list" of the girls in the school. When Tabby finds this list and takes Matt to task- does he come clean and admit his feelings? No he makes it worse and so begins a few weeks of them avoiding each other. Reviews call this book funny, I never saw anything funny about it. Matt is a typical boy who does not confide in anyone- just us readers and what good does that do him. When life takes an even crueler turn, Matt may not be able to survive his crushed feelings, may not be able to relate to his family, and lose his coveted spot on the basketball team. What will Matt do? Reck's debut tore me up and will be one teens talk about and pass around for the authentic voice of flawed, insecure, yet lovable Matt Wainwright (his poetry is an added perk to the book).
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment