My Awesome/Awful Popularity Plan
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Justin has two goals for sophomore year: to date Chuck, the hottest boy in school, and to become the king of Cool U, the table in the cafeteria where the "in" crowd sits.
Unfortunately, he has the wrong look (short, plump, Brillo-pad curls), he has the wrong interests (Broadway, chorus violin), and he has the wrong friends (Spencer, into Eastern religions, and Mary Ann, who doesn't shave her armpits). And Chuck? Well, he's not gay; he's dating Becky, a girl in chorus with whom Justin is friendly.
But Justin is determined.
In detention one day (because he saw Chuck get it first), Justin comes up with a perfect plan: to allow Becky to continue dating Chuck, whom Becky's dad hates. They will pretend that Becky is dating Justin, whom Becky's dad loves. And when Becky and Justin go out on a fake date, Chuck will meet up with them for a real date with Becky. Chuck's bound to find Justin irresistable, right? What could go wrong?
Seth Rudetsky's first novel for young adults is endearingly human, and laugh-out-loud funny, and any kid who ever aspired to Cool U will find Justin a welcome ally in the fight for popularity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Justin, the 15-year-old narrator of actor/writer Rudetsky's (Broadway Nights) droll YA debut, wants more than anything to be popular and to land the attention of Chuck, the handsome school quarterback. His obstacles include his looks (he's overweight), Chuck's heterosexuality, and constant bullying by some of his classmates. When Justin learns that Chuck and his girlfriend, Becky, need to hide their relationship from Becky's father, he sees an opportunity pretending to date Becky and covering for the lovebirds while also getting to spend more time with Chuck. Justin's plan is met with skepticism by his best friend, Spencer, whose attempts to help Justin overcome his shallowness generally fail. Rudetsky avoids lettings things spiral so far out of control that they turn into slapstick, but he throws in enough misunderstandings to keep the humor and drama flowing. The bullying subplot wraps up too neatly and with too few consequences, and Justin's real 11th-hour romance is also too easy, but Justin's acerbic narration compensates, making this an energetic twist on the typical high school romance and hijinks novel. Ages 12 up.
