Do you know what a butterfly, caterpillar, and a steam kiss are? If you read the ABC’s of Kissing Boys by Tina Ferraro you will find out! At first this novel seems very superficial, but as you continue to read on, it is evident that every teen girl must read this book!
It's Parker’s junior year of high school and she can’t get over the fact that all of her friends made varsity soccer and she’s still on the JV team. Each year the school has a sport’s fair and this is where Parker thinks she can get on to the varsity team. Parker devises a plan to kiss Luke, her brother’s college friend and the previous year’s prom king. Luke will demand at the varsity team’s kissing booth that the coach put Parker on the varsity team and that he will pay $300 for a kiss from Parker. Luke warns Parker that the kiss has to look real, but Parker has never had a real open mouth kiss before.
Parker teams up with Tristan, a freshman, who coaches her on kissing. Both of their parents have an ongoing feud and if either father finds out what is going on between them, the world will come crashing down. Somewhere along the way Tristan and Parker seem to develop a relationship, but Parker has a hard time admitting it.
Parker’s friends begin to ignore her and act like she never existed when she doesn’t make varsity. Her friends also gossip and make fun of her because they think she is dating Tristan the freshman. Her friends say that they have her best intentions at heart, but Parker doesn’t know who to trust. Meanwhile, Parker and her old best friend Becca, reconnect during the time that Parker’s friends are ignoring her. Parker realizes that Becca is the only friend that has always been there for her and that she shouldn’t have forgotten about Becca when she started hanging out with the popular girls from the soccer team.
I think this book is more for junior high and early high school students. Boys will have a hard time connecting to this novel because much of the plot deals with gossiping and backstabbing that goes on in female relationships. This book definitely needs to be taught to all the girls going into high school because it will help them to realize that gossiping will only lead to trouble. This novel will also help girls to discern true friends from superficial ones. I could see this being a great independent reading book for the girls or to be taught in English or Sex Ed. Girls who are into sports will definitely connect with this book also because it deals with the competitiveness of making the team.
8 comments:
OO another book to put on my list. It sounds like a great book for teen girls. Today's teens have gotten so catty that it has cost some thier lives. This book sounds like it can help YA learn the dangers without being too "pushy" or "dramatic". Plus, a little love story never hurts...
I think if I were to teach this book in an English class male students would beable to relate to Parker's need to belong or 'fit it' or the sports aspect, and some may even like the opportunity to read a book that is deemed 'female' without being stereotyped.
I think if I were to teach this book in an English class male students would be able to relate to Parker's need to belong or 'fit it' or the sports aspect, and some may even like the opportunity to read a book that is deemed 'female' without being stereotyped.
This book sounds like a must read for young girls. All too often you hear how mean girls are to each other. The backstabbing and gossiping gets so out of control and they don't realize how hurtful it is. It's important for young girls to know who their true friends are because many times you hear of two best friends drifting apart because of the social status thing.
Donna
I also believe this book could be used when discussing bullying. Many groups bully others who do not fit in or do not belong. I think girls are often more cruel and sneaky about their gossiping and bullying. I know our counselors have had several assembly-type interventions with our sixth grade girls. Apparently, the bullying has moved to the cyber world with things like facebook and texting, which is difficult to control.
Sounds like an interesting read and I'm curious to find out how it ends.
Andra
You are all right about girls having issues with gossiping, bullying, etc. For some reason they can’t open up their eyes to see their own cruelty. That is why they must read this book! I loved it!
This sounds like a good book and points out some very important issues for teenagers. Maybe I'm old school but I just can't imagine teaching a book like this to an entire class. For me, I think this might be more of an independent recommendation. I understand this might be a book for younger students but do you think this would be challenging enough? I think the books we read for class all had different levels of analysis so I just would want to make sure that any book I teach has that as well.
Most schools now have Girls Clubs, or something for just girls to go and do after school, this could def. be a book on the list to read and then discuss, if your school has a club like this.
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