Search This Blog
June Reviews Link-Up
July Reviews Link-Up
August Reviews Link-Up
September Reviews Link-Up
October Reviews Link-Up
November Reviews Link-Up
December Reviews Link-Up
2024 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama (1)
- Alaska
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (3)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois (1)
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky (1)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (2)
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (2)
- North Carolina (2)
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma (1)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (2)
- Utah
- Vermont (1)
- Virginia (1)
- Washington (2)
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*
International:
- Australia (1)
- Canada (1)
- England (7)
- France (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (2)
- Italy (1)
- Scotland (2)
- The Netherlands (1)
2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
Monday, September 09, 2013
Hey Bessica, You Want a Little Cheese With That Whine?
6:10 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Bessica Lefter just wanted a new look for the first day of sixth grade. That's all. The 11-year-old never thought she'd lose her best friend, Sylvie Potaski, over one unfortunate haircut. But Sylvie's mother has declared Bessica a bad influence and enrolled her daughter at a different school. Left to figure middle school out on her own, Bessica's not exactly adjusting well. She can't get her locker open, let alone deal with the psycho-bullies who torment her daily. It doesn't help that her grandmother, the one person she can always talk to, is off on some cockamamie, six-week long RV trip with her dorky boyfriend. Bessica's miserable—why aren't her parents and her beloved grandma getting this? No one seems to understand. If only she could convince Sylvie's mother to let the girls hang out again, or find some way to sabotage Grandma's trip, or find a way—any way—to fit in at her new school. Joining the cheerleading squad seems to be the way to go, but what if that ends up just as disastrously as everything else? Can Bessica find a way to survive middle school? Chances are not looking good ...
I picked up The Reinvention of Bessica Lefter by Kristen Tracy because it looked like a quick, cute read. And it was, just in kind of a generic, been-there-read-that kind of way. Bessica's a fun narrator and sympathetic—at least to a point. After a while, though, her constant misery starts to get old. As she continues to wallow in her own self-pity, never reaching outside herself for a solution to her unhappiness, she just gets more self-centered and whiny. In a character-driven novel, an annoying heroine is not a good thing. In the end, The Reinvention of Bessica Lefter teaches a valuable lesson about finding your own way, but the uplifting message wasn't quite enough to counteract the book's irritating main character.
(Readalikes: Hm, I can't think of anything. Can you?)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)
Reading
Listening
Followin' with Bloglovin'
-
-
-
The Wild Lavender Bookshop by Jodi Thomas3 hours ago
-
Daily Prompt 15 May Wednesday5 hours ago
-
-
-
World of Books ~ Review14 hours ago
-
Review: One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke16 hours ago
-
-
100 Best Books Written by Women23 hours ago
-
-
Spoon To Be Dead By Dana Mentink1 day ago
-
Very Bad Company by Emma Rosenblum1 day ago
-
Displaced Persons - Joan Leegant1 day ago
-
Reading Recap April 20241 day ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
Bridge to Bat City2 days ago
-
A Game of Hearts3 days ago
-
-
-
Blood Rubies by Mailan Doquang5 days ago
-
-
-
-
47. The One and Only Family1 week ago
-
A bit of catching up1 week ago
-
-
May TBR2 weeks ago
-
-
-
-
March Monthly Wrap-up1 month ago
-
-
-
-
-
What Happened to Summer?7 months ago
-
6/25/23 Extra Ezra10 months ago
-
-
-
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?1 year ago
-
-
-
-
-
Grab my Button!
Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ► 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
- ► 2014 (133)
- ▼ 2013 (183)
- ► 2012 (193)
- ► 2011 (232)
- ► 2010 (257)
- ► 2009 (211)
- ► 2008 (192)
0 bookworm(s) said...:
Post a Comment
Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.
P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!