Review by Beth
Screwball, by Keri Mikulski, is a locally-set YA book about an average high school girl, Ashley, who tries to balance her social life with her school and sports practice. Ashley goes through her relationship with her first boyfriend, Andrew, while also starting on a new softball team. She gets into arguments with one of the girls on the team, who seems to dislike her for no particular reason, and arguments with her parents for trying to put her boyfriend before softball. Even Andrew is displeased with the fact that Ashley tries to change her lifestyle for him, and dumps her, leaving her heartbroken. After this, she tries to change her life back, so she can be her pre-Andrew self, throwing herself into sports once again and refusing to date boys. But this can only last for so long....
This book was written for girls who are reluctant to read, and it shows. The storyline is complex only in the way that gossip is. The part of the story that I enjoyed the most was the references- the island the characters lived on was split into two parts, one of which was named "Cape Towne." Sound familiar? The ice cream shop they went to at one point was called Danny's- the inspiration for which, Little Danny's, happens to be on the same street I used to live on. The classic rock station Ashley complained about her dad listening happens to be the station I most frequently listen to.The characters of the story are, for the most part, completely normal teenagers. However, to me, they seemed somewhat shallow and self-absorbed. They noticed only their social lives and that of their friends', nothing else. Screwball would not have been a story I would have picked out for myself- it is not my typical genre, and this book has not swayed me to sports chic-lit. However, I am looking forward to reading the sequel.
(many thanks to Beth for her review)
1 comment:
Thanks for the review Beth!! ;)
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