RT 2012 book 11 & 12: megan mccafferty's sloppy firsts & second helpings

Loooooove Jessica Darling to bits!!! Fine, YA books are somewhat considered easy-reads but hey, it's not often I get to devour a book, even if it's only 300 pages long, that quickly. It's no secret that I love book stores (and groceries and hardware stores!) because I love school & office supplies and I also love perusing bookshelves for interesting reads. It's only recently that I've discovered the wonderful world of the YA genre and so far, I'm loving it. Out of all the other books from this genre that I've read, Megan McCafferty's Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings are my favorite.

Sloppy Firsts

Starts with Jessica Darling in her sophomore year in Pineville High. Her best friend, Hope, moves out of Pineville and into far away Tennessee and suddenly she feels her world crumbling down. She gets into this sulky mode and complains how no one gets her- not her family, not even her friends. Her dad only cares about her running career. She finds it hard to fit in her mom & older sister, Bethany's, Blonde Bond. She complains they only care about superficial stuff like boys and clothes. She's only hanging on and hanging out with her other friends, Bridget, Manda and Sara out of habit. Actually, she can't stand her friends.

Although I love Jessica, I feel she's acting all high and mighty. Yes she is (very) intelligent but I'm sure she's not the only one in her entire school who has the mental chops. I mean, how can she diss everyone as if they're all stupid and ignorant and only care about superficial things. Aside from that, I love her. She's so funny and entertaining.

Sloppy Firsts was supposed to be circa 2000 which was the same year I graduated high school, so Jessica and I belonged to the same 'era,' so it's more identifiable to me. This was before cellphones were mainstream and before everyone had easy access to fast, reliable internet connection. Backstreet Boys, Brtiney - man, it was like a trip down memory lane. So this is also one thing I loved about the book- I can read it from the perspective of a 17-year-old me and can totally relate to all the teenage angst. But then again my 29-turning-30-soon-self can still relate to most of the angst and frustrations. Ha!

And oh, did I mention that I have a lot in common with Ms. Darling. No, I'm not talking about the high IQ. There was this one time when her mother said,

"You're both perfectionists. You're both hard-headed. You both get depressed when things don't go your way. You both think too much. You both keep your feelings inside, then explode at inopportune moments."

referring to her similarities with her dad. And upon reading those words, I can totally relate to it. Well, not entirely but the perfectionist and depressed when I don't get my way and the thinking too much bit, that's definitely me. Plus, Jessica and I both have broken female equipment- "Why was my womanhood revoked" - referring to our absent monthly visits. TMI, I know. But here's the similarity to end all similiarities- we both harbored a long-term crush for someone who turned out to be gay! Sounds family, no?

Anyway, as we (yes, tayong tatlong nagbabasa nito) all know how much I'm a sucker for all things nakakakilig, this has it also. What I also loved about Sloppy Firsts is how "Prince Charming" wasn't who we all thought it would be. Unlike other books (and love stories) where the heroine ends up with either the long-time crush (not possible in this case because He. Is. Gay) or the boy best friend (which almost happened). But our Prince Charming takes in the form of former dreg Marcus Flutie. I didn't see that coming and maybe that's what made it all the more appealing ;)

Second Helpings

Jessica enters Senior Year at Pineville High. Still nursing a recent heartbreak over Marcus' confession and still in denial that she still cares about him, she escapes via SPECIAL's writing program. Rather than moping about her life in Pineville and working another crappy summer job at the boardwalk, she signed up for something that will take her mind off Pineville and all things associated with it such as Marcus Flutie.

At the start of SPECIAL, she finds a new Obsessive Object of Horniness in her writing professor- Samuel MacDougall- who turned out to be gay. (See! Story of my life!) This SPECIAL experience may not have been pleasant for her but she thinks it was her destiny because if not for it, she wouldn't have met Paul Parlipiano at that cafe nor met Mac (her former and current OOHs and fairy gay mothers) and she wouldn't have considered Columbia in her school choices.

School starts and eventually, Jessica has her first real relationship with Len Levy. Only, Len is now Marcus Flutie's bestfriend. So this is my favorite part- Marcus' altruistic act. He wanted Jessica to be happy and if she can't be happy with him, he thought she could be happy with Len. Coincidentally, Marcus also works in Silver Meadow where Jessica's 90-year-old grandma, Gladdie, was checked in after her stroke. Of course we all want a Jessica-Marcus pairing after all that I-feel-it-in-my-fingers-I-feel-it-in-my-toes (shet, oo na baduy!) moments, we just can't deny there's something there. But at the same time, we also have grown to love Levy who's not only Jessica's cerebral equal but also adores her very much.

Only that changes when one night she commits a lapse of judgment and accidentally spills the beans- Len found out about her and Marcus. What's genius about McCafferty is that in this case we should take Len's side, she makes Len end up with Manda so we run back to Jessica's defense. In her heartbreak, she finds comfort in Gladdie.

I won't spoil the ending for you so I'll stop right here and start on Charmed Thirds already :)

Marcus Flutie is my newest fictional character crush and he can give me a hickey any-frickin-time.