Sloppy Firsts

When I went in the high school library a few days ago, the librarian recommend Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty. I had told her that I liked to read books in a series and girly fiction. I think that in Sloppy Firsts she made me an excellent recommendation.

First of all, I would like to say that this is definitely a high school book. There is no way I would purchase this for a middle school library or place it in the Juvenile section of a public library. Discussion of drinking, drug use, and sex abound. In the context of the moral lesson or overall message of the book, I would think that most parents of high schools would want their daughters to read things from Jessica Darling's point of view. They would be mortified is the book was written from some of her friend's point of view. I think that the only reason that most teens would not like this book would be because it was published almost 10 years ago and the technology might feel a little off. One of the main characters has a beeper.

Sloppy Firsts  is a journal written from the Jessica "Notso" Darling's point of view. Her best friend, ironically named Hope, has moved away and Jessica doesn't really enjoy the company of her other friends, whom she affectionately calls the Clueless Crew. Jessica struggles with fitting into the typical high school and understanding the culture. Her "friends" think she just has a bad attitude because Hope moved away, but a closer examination would help them find the truth. I enjoyed reading Sloppy Firsts, but I don't like where it ended, with Jessica nearly friendless, except for the one day visit from Hope. I've started reading Second Helpings so that I can change this image of Jessica in my mind.