Kelsey Finkelstein is fourteen and FRUSTRATED. Every time she tries to live up to her awesome potential, her plans are foiled – by her impossible parents, her annoying little sister, and life in general. But with her first day of high school coming up, Kelsey is positive that things are going to change. Enlisting the help of her three best friends — sweet and quiet Em, theatrical Cass, and wild JoJo — Kelsey gets ready to rebrand herself and make the kind of mark she knows is her destiny.
Things start out great - her arch-nemesis has moved across the country, giving Kelsey the perfect opportunity to stand out on the soccer team and finally catch the eye of her long-time crush. But soon enough, an evil junior’s thirst for revenge, a mysterious photographer, and a series of other catastrophes make it clear that just because KELSEY has a plan for greatness… it doesn’t mean the rest of the world is in on it.
Kelsey’s hilarious commentary throughout her disastrous freshman year will have you laughing out loud—while being thankful that you’re not in her shoes, of course…
Review
Everyone in their early teens thinks the world revolves around them and their problems. That school is the beginning and end of the universe and your family has signed up to some evil society that's sole purpose is to ruin your life and embarrass you. It's never true but it feels real at the time the need to be cool, to get the dream guy/girl and to not look like a total idiot is the be all and end all of your life. This is the basis for Freshmen Year and Other Unnatural Disasters and the life in question is one Kelsey Finkelstein. She lives in Brooklyn, NY and she's decided that in her Freshmen year of high school is going to be the making of her and she's going to get THE guy, Jordan, and achieve greatness. If that's not tempting fate then I don't know what is.
To start with reading Freshmen Year I found that Kelsey was a bit annoying because she's just SO self involved! I couldn't believe that a teenage girl would be 'oh it's all about me' and think the world revolves around her. Then I thought back to when I was the same age as Kelsey and gave myself the biggest face palm ever. I was JUST like Kelsey at that age when I thought the world started and ended with whatever minor embarrassment I'd suffered that week and my parents were out to ruin my life and nothing was as awesome as I'd thought it should be. I wanted life to be like Dawson's Creek or Saved By the Bell and it wasn't. My heart warmed to Kelsey straight away after that because even though she was me, she didn't let the awfulness of being a teen stop her trying to make her Freshmen year the year she finds herself.
Friends come and go like they do in real life and drama's appear and fade within the space of days. Freshmen Year and Other Unnatural Disasters is a whirl wind look at what happens in a teenage brain and how crazy it can be but you have the fun of watching it all and just enjoying the laughs.
If you're a fan of books like Adrian Mole or Keris Staniton's 'Jessie hearts NYC' or Susie Day's 'Big Woo' then you'd love this story. It's got drama, heart break, laugh and all those teenage embarrassments you'd expect, fear and likely experienced yourself.
Epic Trailer :
Rating: 7.5/10
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons, A Penguin imprint, is available here from March 2012
Nice review. I think Helen has read this one for us.
ReplyDeleteit was a really funny and sweet read!
DeleteI would probably pick this up just because the cover is so cute! I'm now laughing of a memory of shopping with my mother, walking casually past the school hottie and my mam shouting 'Victoria' at me from two aisles away. At the time I thought I'd *never* forgive her lol.
ReplyDeletelol. that's the great thing about the story. you KNOW at least 20 times something like that has happened to you. lol
DeleteThis sounds like a really cute book, thanks for the great review! *goes to check it out*
ReplyDeletethanks iffath. i got sent an copy to review. a nice fun read
DeleteI really want this book! So badly! I love the title, it reminds me of "The earth, my Butt and Other Big Round Things" lol it also sounds like a great read!
ReplyDelete