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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | YA Fic Lockhart, E. 2005 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
From E. Lockhart, author of the highly acclaimed, New York Times bestseller We Were Liars, which John Green called "utterly unforgettable," comes The Boyfriend List , the first book in the uproarious and heartwarming Ruby Oliver novels.
Ruby Oliver is 15 and has a shrink. She knows it's unusual, but give her a break--she's had a rough 10 days. In the past 10 days she:
lost her boyfriend (#13 on the list),
lost her best friend (Kim),
lost all her other friends (Nora, Cricket),
did something suspicious with a boy (#10),
did something advanced with a boy (#15),
had an argument with a boy (#14),
drank her first beer (someone handed it to her),
got caught by her mom (ag!),
had a panic attack (scary),
lost a lacrosse game (she's the goalie),
failed a math test (she'll make it up),
hurt Meghan's feelings (even though they aren't really friends),
became a social outcast (no one to sit with at lunch)
and had graffiti written about her in the girls' bathroom (who knows what was in the boys'!?!).
But don't worry--Ruby lives to tell the tale. And make more lists.
Author Notes
E. Lockhart is the author of We Were Liars, Fly on the Wall, Dramarama, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks and the Ruby Oliver quartet: The Boyfriend List, The Boy Book, The Treasure Map of Boys, and Real Live Boyfriends. She also co-authored How to Be Bad with Lauren Myracle and Sarah Mlynowski.
Lockhart's Disreputable History was a Printz Award honor book, a finalist for the National Book Award, and recipient of the Cybils Award for best young adult novel.
Lockhart has a doctorate in English literature from Columbia University and currently teaches creative writing at Hamline University's MFA program in Writing for Children. In 2015 the title We Were Liars made the Silver Inky Awards shortlist.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Fifteen-year-old Ruby "Roo" Oliver is having a tough year at Tate Prep. Through a series of social debacles, she loses her best friends, her boyfriend, her dignity, and the respect of her fellow Taters in less than two weeks' time. Following nearly half a dozen panic attacks, Roo starts to spend some quality time on Doctor Z.'s couch, where she makes (at her shrink's urging) a list of boyfriends past and present, official and unofficial, and starts on a journey of self-discovery. Along the way, Ruby begins to think about patterns in her life and ways that she might be more like her mother than she'd care to admit. Fortunately, Ruby survives her traumatic exile and lives to tell the tale. Lockhart has created a fun character in the spirit of Louise Rennison's Georgia Nicholson and Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones. Ruby is a likable and empathetic character whose quirks and behaviors will strike a chord with many readers. The snappy dialogue makes this story a winner, though the language and discussion of sexually charged situations are frank. The scenarios all ring true, as does Roo's inner voice. Though the novel starts off a bit slowly, and it takes a while to get used to the funny footnotes, it gains speed, and the comedy of errors will have readers laughing out loud. Teens will soon be listing the reasons they want another Ruby adventure.-Elaine Baran Black, Gwinnett County Public Library, Lawrenceville, GA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Ruby Oliver's parents send her to a shrink after the 15-year-old begins experiencing panic attacks. Doctor Z asks her to list boys she "ever had the slightest little any-kind-of-anything with" and, as Ruby winds her way through the list, she slowly reveals what has brought her to therapy. Her basic crisis is this: after six months of dating, her boyfriend, Jackson, breaks up with her, only to go out with her best friend, Kim, the following week. When Kim confesses ("It's not like we could even help it. It's like fate"), Ruby has her first attack. Matters only intensify when Ruby winds up going to the spring formal with Jackson anyway, and kisses him (she claims "he kissed me back"). Kim exacts sharp revenge and Ruby's other friends stop talking to her; the heroine feels like she has become a "leper." The copious footnotes occasionally detract from the narration, but readers will be absorbed in Ruby's honest story. Lockhart (pseudonymous for Jenkins, author of That New Animal, reviewed above) convincingly captures the intentional-and unintentional-cruelty that comes with dating; even Ruby inflicts pain (Shiv, a popular Indian-American boy she once kissed, is hurt after he thinks she made fun of him: "I heard you... something about I smelled like nutmeg? Like you were disgusted by kissing an Indian or something"). Spot-on dialogue and details make this a painfully recognizable and addictive read. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
When Ruby starts having panic attacks, she sees a shrink who has her compile a list of her boyfriends, possible boyfriends, and crushes. Each boy is accorded a chapter, and the reason why Ruby is having panic attacks slowly unfolds. While some aspects of the story don't ring true, Ruby is an entertaining character and her musings will resonate with readers. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
After being dumped by her boyfriend, rejected by her girlfriends and humiliated by her classmates, Ruby Oliver, a 15-year-old moderately popular girl turned pariah, reassesses her history and her actions. Ruby's tool for this task is her newly made compilation of "all the boyfriends, kind-of boyfriends, almost-boyfriends, rumored boyfriends and wished-he-were boyfriends" in her life. It's a clever gimmick and author Lockhart uses it as a prism through which Ruby, with help from her therapist, can view her life and herself. Slowly, Ruby and the reader begin to understand that she's not the total victim she appeared to be initially, and while she hardly deserved the cruelty that's been heaped upon her, she had a distinct hand in her fate. The issues Ruby deals with are serious, but the first-person narrative is amusing and the overall tone is light. Although the gimmick gets tedious and repetitious in spots, Lockhart shines at depicting the all-encompassing microcosm of school social life, and wisely eschews an unrealistically happy ending, instead offering hope and honest growth. (Fiction. 12-14) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 8-11. Fifteen-year-old Ruby Oliver's life is full of challenges. She lives on a houseboat; attends private school--on scholarship; and her boyfriend has dumped her for her best friend. Nothing, however, is worse than having her boyfriend list (homework from her shrink) passed around school and being branded a slut. It's her therapy, during which she examines current and past events--including feelings about boys--that helps put Ruby back on track, allowing her to gain insight into her relationships and the importance of self-worth. Ruby's character is sympathetic, witty, and sometimes frustrating, and it shines through her introspective, occasionally funny narrative, which incorporates such familiar teen issues as coping with peer pressure and a broken heart. The time line is somewhat confusing, and the abundant, often lengthy footnoted asides occasionally distract from the story's flow, but readers will find many of Ruby's experiences familiar, and they'll appreciate the story as a lively, often entertaining read. --Shelle Rosenfeld Copyright 2005 Booklist