Graham, Rosemary (2005). Thou Shalt Not Dump the Skater Dude (and other commandments I have broken). NY: Viking Juvenile. ISBN: 0670060178. 224 pages.
After Kasey's mother decides to move the family (sans dad; the parents are divorced) to Berkeley, CA from Boston, Kasey persuades her parents to allow her to go to public school for the first time. There, Kasey meets a decidedly different cast of characters than the girly-girls who populated her single-sex private school and soon befriends a punky outsider and romances C.J., a popular skater. Soon, however, Kasey discovers the life of the skater's girlfriend consists of sitting in the audience at skate competitions and lukewarm make-out sessions afterwards; tired of the monotony, she decides to break up with C.J. C.J. retaliates harshly--it seems no girl has ever broken up with him before--and starts writing nasty things about Kasey on his blog. Since C.J. is soooo popular, everyone at school reads his blog and soon, everyone thinks they know the truth about Kasey. This is a vaguely stereotypic anti-romance novel: the set up is a familiar trope while the climax and resolution are, if not surprising, mildly satisfying. The lame title nearly kept me from reading the novel; with different packaging (including title!) and perhaps a bit more character development, this book could be a meatier read. As it stands, Thou Shalt Not hovers on the line between teen chick-lit sensibilities and girl-power ideology, making it an easy--if less than revolutionary--diversion. |
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