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Book Description
“My parents suck ass. Banning me from the phone and restricting my computer privileges are the most tyrannical parental gestures I can think of. Don’t they realize that Hope’s the only one who keeps me sane? . . . I don’t see how things could get any worse.”
When her best friend, Hope Weaver, moves away from Pineville, New Jersey, hyperobservant sixteen-year-old Jessica Darling is devastated. A fish out of water at school and a stranger at home, Jessica feels more lost than ever now that the only person with whom she could really communicate has gone. How is she supposed to deal with the boy- and shopping-crazy girls at school, her dad’s obsession with her track meets, her mother salivating over big sister Bethany’s lavish wedding, and her nonexistent love life?
A fresh, funny, utterly compelling fiction debut by first-time novelist Megan McCafferty, Sloppy Firsts is an insightful, true-to-life look at Jessica’s predicament as she embarks on another year of teenage torment--from the dark days of Hope’s departure through her months as a type-A personality turned insomniac to her completely mixed-up feelings about Marcus Flutie, the intelligent and mysterious “Dreg” who works his way into her heart. Like a John Hughes for the twenty-first century, Megan McCafferty taps into the inherent humor and drama of the teen experience. This poignant, hilarious novel is sure to appeal to readers who are still going through it, as well as those who are grateful that they don’t have to go back and grow up all over again.
When her best friend, Hope Weaver, moves away from Pineville, New Jersey, hyperobservant sixteen-year-old Jessica Darling is devastated. A fish out of water at school and a stranger at home, Jessica feels more lost than ever now that the only person with whom she could really communicate has gone. How is she supposed to deal with the boy- and shopping-crazy girls at school, her dad’s obsession with her track meets, her mother salivating over big sister Bethany’s lavish wedding, and her nonexistent love life?
A fresh, funny, utterly compelling fiction debut by first-time novelist Megan McCafferty, Sloppy Firsts is an insightful, true-to-life look at Jessica’s predicament as she embarks on another year of teenage torment--from the dark days of Hope’s departure through her months as a type-A personality turned insomniac to her completely mixed-up feelings about Marcus Flutie, the intelligent and mysterious “Dreg” who works his way into her heart. Like a John Hughes for the twenty-first century, Megan McCafferty taps into the inherent humor and drama of the teen experience. This poignant, hilarious novel is sure to appeal to readers who are still going through it, as well as those who are grateful that they don’t have to go back and grow up all over again.
From the Back Cover
“Such a sharp, funny, poignant heroine, with an inner world we can all relate to. I love it.” —Sophie Kinsella, author of Confessions of a Shopaholic
“Sloppy Firsts captures, in spare, truthful prose, the exquisite pain and ecstasy of being besotted by your best friend. The reader may flinch, but Megan McCafferty never does.”
—Emma Forrest, author of Namedropper
“Sloppy Firsts is a spirited, down-the-rabbit-hole adventure in the madcap subculture of high school. With remarkable insight, tenderness, and wit, Megan McCafferty offers us a compassionate, clear-eyed tale of how a sassy young woman survives teenage-hood.”
—Laurie Fox, author of My Sister from the Black Lagoon
“Sloppy Firsts perfectly captures the turbulent roller-coaster ride that is being a teenager. This is an (at times) intimate, painfully honest peek at a girl’s coming of age. Getting to know Jessica was like meeting a new best friend. I miss her already.”
—Atoosa Rubenstein, editor in chief of CosmoGirl!
“Sloppy Firsts captures, in spare, truthful prose, the exquisite pain and ecstasy of being besotted by your best friend. The reader may flinch, but Megan McCafferty never does.”
—Emma Forrest, author of Namedropper
“Sloppy Firsts is a spirited, down-the-rabbit-hole adventure in the madcap subculture of high school. With remarkable insight, tenderness, and wit, Megan McCafferty offers us a compassionate, clear-eyed tale of how a sassy young woman survives teenage-hood.”
—Laurie Fox, author of My Sister from the Black Lagoon
“Sloppy Firsts perfectly captures the turbulent roller-coaster ride that is being a teenager. This is an (at times) intimate, painfully honest peek at a girl’s coming of age. Getting to know Jessica was like meeting a new best friend. I miss her already.”
—Atoosa Rubenstein, editor in chief of CosmoGirl!
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Tonight I've been thinking about the mosaic Hope gave me the night she U-hauled ass out of Pineville. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
Tonight I've been thinking about the mosaic Hope gave me the night she U-hauled ass out of Pineville. Read the first page
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Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent and Fun Coming of Age Story,
By
This review is from: Sloppy Firsts: A Jessica Darling Novel (Paperback)
This debut novel offers up a fairly pleasing take on the high-school novel, replete with cliques of teenagers, sexual (mis)discoveries, angst and confusion, slang galore, and a high dose of comedy. The breezy novel takes the form of a year's worth of teenage journal entries, interspersed with letters to an absent best friend and various comic top 5 and 10 lists. Clearly McCafferty has read and absorbed books like Bridget Jones Diary and High Fidelity and applied the lessons to her own tale for a slightly younger set. It's a very apt novel in that not a lot happens on a day by day basis, and yet quite a bit happens as teenage Jessica struggles to find her identity in the social world of a public high school on the Jersey shore. Her main source of self-pity is that her supercool best friend moved away, leaving her with no one to hang with except the "Clueless Crew"-three blonde bubblegum bimbos. Her diary entries record the latter part of her sophomore year, the summer, and the first part of junior year.Of course a lot of the book revolves around her own ambivalence to the boys on offer at her school. There's the nice boy next door type who's maturing into an idiot jock, there's a the geeky underclassman in her French class, there's her secret crush on a senior, and there's the strange case of the stoner guy. Added to the mix is the popular theme of parents who just don't understand and a body problem (no period for many moons), and it's got all the ingredients. Of course, like many teens of film and fiction, Jessica does tend to write and analyze way above most 15-16 year-olds, but since she's the class brain, it's at least plausible. And in any event, the book is so enjoyable, one is hard pressed to care. McCafferty has created a wholly believable teenage realm, replete with all the right pop-culture references and icons. Especially funny are all the nicknames bestowed on various cliques, as well as the teen slang. The one quibble I have is that Jessica is a huge John Hughes fan, which seems a little unlikely as his movies (Pretty in Pink, et al) were really touchstones for those (like me), who were in high school 15 years ago. But that's admittedly nitpicking on my part, because the book is a definite pleasure. I would especially recommend it to parents of high school students as a tiny window into the world of their kids.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too,
By TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sloppy Firsts: A Jessica Darling Novel (Paperback)
Ever get the feeling you're trapped in your current life, and won't be able to get out for, oh, all of eternity? Are you bored with your so-called "friends," bored with your so-called good grades, bored with your so-called life? Then you'll identify with SLOPPY FIRSTS, the witty, moving debut novel from author Megan McCafferty.SLOPPY FIRSTS is the story of 16-year-old Jessica Darling, a girl who feels completely out of sync with everyone around her with the exception of her best friend, Hope. When Hope suddenly moves out of their Pineville, New Jersey, hometown, Jess feels even more depressed than ever now that she is forced to deal with all of the people in her life that annoy her without her best friend. Faced with vapid, materialistic girls at her high school, her dad's desire to make her the best track star that ever lived, and her new desire to be with the school's resident pseudo- intellectual bad boy, Marcus Flutie, Jessica records all of her hilarious, rambling thoughts in her journal for all readers to see. SLOPPY FIRSTS is a creative and honest book about what normal teenagers experience in their day-to-day lives. It will please not only young readers, but also adult women who want to relive those cringe-worthy high school years, and look back on the memories. It's heartbreaking, fresh, and sure to become a classic among readers who like a little angst in their lives. Reviewed by: Amanda Dissinger
3.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining but dissapointing,
By
This review is from: Sloppy Firsts: A Jessica Darling Novel (Paperback)
Sloppy Firsts was an average book. I am not planning to read the other books in the series. It was funny at times, insightful into a teenaged girls mind but inconsequential. The book was good but i felt as if something bigger was going to happen. But then it ended and i felt as if all it had accomplished was to allow the reader to hear a whiny girl complain about her life without taking action to change it. The few events that happened in the book didnt seem to satisfy. By the end of the book, i felt dissapointed in the ending and slightly frustrated with the main charcter. I couldnt idetnify with her and just wanted her to get over her problems and stop wallowing in self pity.
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