review 1: Another book of teen angst. In this one, Amanda is unhappy with her hair, her mother, and her lack of boyfriend. When she decides that getting a boyfriend will solve all her problems (some of which aren't even hers to solve) she risks everything to achieve her goal. It's like watching a train wreck. You know what's coming, but can't look away. The characters were alternately heartless and cold, or emotional and out of control. It made for an interesting read, but not my favorite. review 2: Excellent story of a mother and daughter relationship that is rocky but real. Sophomore Amanda Himmelfarb has a lot of issues with "The Captain," as she secretly calls her stern no-nonsense mother, who has 500 Rules to follow and who long ago stopped hugging her oldest ... moredaughter or showing much affection. Amanda has issues with her perfect younger sister, "Malady", too, and this summer everything seems to go from bad to worse. All Amanda really wants is close personal time with a hot guy--and she thinks maybe this will be THE summer she does "it" with gorgeous Paul at the beach...but not if her mother has anything to do about it. I found myself going through a lot of emotions as I read this, because so much of it rang true with my own mother-daughter relationship, and i was even reminded of the days when my younger sister was pretty annoying and perfect... Very well written story about that hardest of all loves, between a mom and a daughter. less
