Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty (Jessica Darling Series, Book 1)

Taryn's comments: Sixteen-year-old Jessica Darling, a class brainiac and track star, is crushed when her best friend Hope moves away from their hometown of Pineville, New Jersey. Now Jessica is stuck pretending to care about “The Clueless Crew” (her nickname for a group of shallow girls she grew up with) and their high school drama. Not only does she feel like she has no one to talk to at school, but she also feels like she can’t talk to her parents. She pours her thoughts into her journal, and this book is written as a series of journal entries with letters to Hope mixed in.

Jessica is a smart, witty, and sarcastic teen. Her journal entries capture the awkwardness of high school and the confusion of romantic relationships (or lack thereof) in the teen years. For instance, Jessica has no interest in the friend who has a crush on her. Meanwhile, she pines away for an older boy, Paul, who may not even know she exists. To top it all off, the mysterious Marcus Flutie keeps showing up in her life. She can’t figure out what he wants from her or how she feels about him.

This book is for anyone who ever felt misunderstood in high school or confused by the opposite sex. If you like Sloppy Firsts, you can read on in the Jessica Darling series to find out what happens to Jessica as she graduates high school, goes to college, and then joins the “real world.”  Check status at GPL.