Rating: 4.5
Description: Ruby has had a rough week. She's lost her boyfriend of six months and her friends and is now a "leper" at her high school. All the stress she's been going through has brought on a series of panic attacks, causing her parents to send her to a shrink. Doctor Z's first assignment for Ruby is for her to make a list of all her boyfriends, past and present, official and unofficial. As she and Doctor Z work their way through the 15-name list over a series of visits, the story of what brought on Ruby's panic attacks is slowly unraveled as she begins to figure out the mistakes she made in the past and how to prevent herself from continuing to make them in the future.
Review: The idea behind this book doesn't seem interesting, but this book is much, much better than it sounds. Ruby is a fantastic teenage character, full of teen angst and teen problems. She deals with her problems exactly the way real teenagers would (and do). The fact that she's got fifteen names on her "boyfriend list" may be a bit off-putting - what normal girl has had fifteen boyfriends by age fifteen? However, Ruby's "boyfriends" range from Adam, who she had playdates with in preschool and met later at an eighth grade dance (bringing on memories of my Kindergarten boyfriend, whom I encountered again in sixth grade), to the boy at summer camp who everyone had a crush on. Every girl will be able to relate to at least one of Ruby's fifteen boyfriend stories, which are filled with the sort of awkwardness that is inherent in the teenage experience. Each of the fifteen boys is unique, and so are Ruby's experiences with them. The book's format makes it interesting to read - each chapter is devoted to one name from Ruby's list and her experience with that particular boy, but the underlying story of Ruby's relationship with her boyfriend and subsequent fall from grace is slowly revealed around and within the stories of the other boys. Ruby's poignant voice will touch the heart of any girl who has ever had a boyfriend, or even a crush.
I really liked this book. The way it told it was really cool. It starts off with her going through her boyfriend list, and it gives you little snippets of what happened. Throughout the book you learn more about the problems she's having with her friends.
Posted by: Mandy at June 5, 2005 06:01 PM