Erin Channing is a nerd with the highest GPA in her tenth grade class and she is just fine with who she is. She prides herself on her rationality, that is, until her Aunt Kiki mysteriously dies during a thunder storm leaving Erin with a plastic, pink crystal ball. Suddenly, Erin realizes just how boring she is, especially compared to her best friends. Samantha is fun and beautiful and Lindsay is so sweet. How can she write a convincing essay that will win her a trip to Italy to study art if she is so boring though? With a little help from a certain crystal ball, her best friends, and a certain someone, Erin is in for quite a bit of... being NOT boring.
I did not expect to love this book so much. I figured it would be pretty good, something light and fun (which it was), but it was much more than that. It went deeper than your run-of-the-mill girlish novel to tell a story that I couldn't help but love. Mrs. Green did a superb job capturing the essence of her characters, if you ask me.
Erin was incredibly easy to connect with. She was the perfect nerd! Most nerds in novels are stereo-typical in that they are great at just one thing and spend most of their time doing said thing without having much of a life. Erin was smart, but she had friends and she didn't sit around in her room studying all of the time. I felt comfortable reading about her because she seemed quite a bit like me and my geeky self. ;) Although, I must say that I can't recite the periodic table in alphabetical order (or any other order for that matter) to the tune of "YMCA". I would really like to see that done, it sounds hilarious! Erin liked being the rational one too. All of this nonsense about magical pink crystal balls really didn't suit her at first. She came around though and realized that sometimes you have to step outside the box a little.
Samantha and Lindsay are the kind of friends that know you and all of your little quirks, but love you because of them rather than in spite of them. Samantha is definitely outgoing. She's fun and energetic, and she speaks her mind. I wasn't such a fan of Samantha, but she did add to the story line. Lindsay, on the other hand, is more reserved and kind.
Then we come to the certain someone: Jesse Cooper. Apparently Erin and Jesse were close before his father died. Then he changed drastically and drifted away. Erin's AP Art History assignment throws them back together again though. Erin comes to realize that all of her feelings for Jesse still hold true. If only he would remember their first kiss...
Erin tells the story in a slightly humorous, and yet slightly serious tone. It's great! I mean, I finished the book in a day which doesn't normally happen unless I can't put the book down. Risa Green kept me turning page after page just so I could keep reading about Erin. I loved how the beginning went back to explain some things before moving forward. It was interesting and not at all annoying or redundant. The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball was quite original. It had everything I was looking for.
My favorite part:
"There's just one problem," I tell him. His eyes snap to attention.
"What's that?"
"I don't know if they'll let me take my box on an airplane. And I won't be able to think if I'm not inside it."
Rating: 10
You can find this great read anywhere including Amazon.*By the way, this is my 50th post. Yes!
4 comments:
Wow, I didn't expect much of the book from the synopsis (writing an essay and reading about the writing process? blegh). But the way you described it, I suppose I should give the book more of a fair chance. This sounds like a really fun read! It's now in my tbr; thanks for sharing your review! <3
Thes synopsis wasn't nearly as good as the book was, that's for sure! Yay, I'm glad. I hope you'll like it! :)
I've been thinking I'd like to read this and I love your review! Great job! :)
Thank you! You should certainly give it a try. What could it hurt, right?
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