SUMMARY
Lucy can’t wait to spend the summer at the lake with her best friend, Mikayla. But when Jackson, the boy she’s been avoiding ever since he rejected her, reappears in her life, Lucy wonders if this summer to remember is one she’d rather forget.
Mikayla’s never had much luck talking to boys, but when she (literally) runs into the cutest guy she’s ever seen, and sparks fly, she thinks things might be looking up…until she realizes the adorable stranger is the same boy who broke her best friend’s heart.
As things begin to heat up between Mikayla and the one guy she should avoid, will Lucy be able to keep her cool or will the girls’ perfect summer turn into one hot mess?
Catherine Clark, the author of beach-read favorites Maine Squeeze and Love and Other Things I’m Bad At, has once again crafted a hilarious and spot-on portrayal of what it’s really like to be a teenager. Readers will love this irreverent coming-of-age story…and will be breathlessly turning the pages to find out what happens next.
ABOUT CATHERINE
I live in Minneapolis, work in Saint Paul, and love crossing the Mississippi River every day because it reminds me of home, growing up in western Mass. Well, that was the Connecticut River, but anyway. Transitive property applies.
I do a lot of posting on Facebook and Twitter – follow me there if you like, until my next book…
I love reading books for all ages. Within reason. I think I’m done with board books, but everything else is on the table. Literally. My bedside table.
Jaime’s Thoughts
How to Meet Boys by Catherine Clark
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Lucy is looking forward to spending the summer with her best friend at the lake. Her only concern this summer is avoiding Jackson, the boy who rejected her… but when she arrives at her grandparents apple store she finds that he’s the other kid they hired for the summer. This is a recipe for disaster. Right?
When Mikayla, Lucy’s best friend has an almost accident on her bike, avoiding a car driven by a gorgeous stranger, she doesn’t realize the crap storm her connection with this boy will cause. Because… as you guessed it… it’s none other than Jackson.
If you’re looking for a summer romance, that’s not entirely what this story is about. I know… I know… HOW TO MEET BOYS… there truly aren’t that many boys. Instead ultimately what I found this story to be about was growing up, friendship and forgiveness. Lucy and Mikayla are the best of friends and it’s apparent the connection they have. The story itself is told in alternating points of view and while that helps in connecting with the characters a bit better, I found that I wasn’t really cheering for either one of these girls.
Lucy is a little bit overdramatic for me. While I understand her embarrassment once the entire story between her and Jackson is explained, I just felt it fell flat for me. Yes, I get the rumors were bad, but again it seemed too dramatic to be holding this much of a grudge that many years later. THEN where was Jackson in all of this. I mean they were friends before it happened, good friends and he’s just going to let the rumors run rampant with the excuse that they were going to different schools … It really didn’t endear me to him.
Mikayla wasn’t any better at making me a fan of her either. She came across as incredibly selfish and I get it… this is the first boy you have connected with but at what cost do you pursue it? A best friend? It seemed like she pushed Lucy out of her mind and continued to make excuses for herself in order to make her relationship with Jackson okay in her mind. For me, her realization was too little too late.
I also wasn’t really sure what impact Ava was supposed to have on this story other than to act as a mediator and the person to tell these girls to pull their heads out of their asses.
How to Meet Boys explores relationships, both between girls and the boys they find themselves liking. It’s definitely a light summer story with not a lot of substance to it. Definitely not a heavy read at all. If you’re looking for a quick summer read that’s fun and sweet, How to Meet Boys might be exactly what you need!
Thank you to Harpercollins and Edelweiss for the advance copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
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