Thursday, February 19, 2009

The ABC's of Kissing Boys by Tina Ferraro

Despite the title, this book is not just about kissing
boys. The real drama lies in the girl taking kissing
lessons from her next door neighbor and falling for him.
She is doing this because it all falls into her ludicrous
master plan of being placed on the varsity soccer team. The
protagonist is a junior in high school and has played
soccer all of her life. In her freshman and sophomore
years, she placed on the junior varsity level and assumed
shed be moved up the next year. She is in a great state of
consternation whence she realizes she is still on the
junior varsity level due to a lack of room for her on the
higher level. To make matters worse, the girls arch
nemesis made the real varsity level and reminds the girl of
this every day. This madness ensues when the girl is
tormented every day in the hallways. The main character
wants to change this by getting the hottest boy in town to
come to a school event and approach the varsity girls
soccer kissing booth. There, he will demand that he kiss
the main character for three hundred dollars. According to
the girl, this will work perfectly and make the coach put
her on the team to gain money for the team.

The ABC'S of
Kissing Boys" by Tina Ferraro is definitely a teenage
drama. If it were ever made into a movie, it would fit into
the pigeonholed category of chick-flick. Nevertheless, the
plot is very engaging and suspenseful--definitely a page-
turner. The main events in the book lie in the girl trying
to learn how to kiss. After all, she wants her three
hundred dollar kiss to look real in front of her coach, or
else she will know that it was all a hoax. There are
facetious scenes intertwined into the book (e.g.- the girl
buying economy sized boxes of cherries and starbursts
candies in a vain attempt to become a kissing pro). Anyway,
the girl seeks the help of her hunky next door neighbor.
Little does she know that she will eventually end up
falling for him. She also does not know that she will
eventually make the varsity level for a whole different
reason that has nothing to do with kissing boys. The big
finale lies in the last twenty pages or so, but it is worth
the wait. Ferraro has an ease about her words that is
evident in the book. Sentences flow effortlessly and make
the pages flutter by.

Reviewer Age:17

Reviewer
City, State and Country: Staten Island, NY USA