Footfree and Fancyloose

October 1, 2008
Gr 10 Up-The "Year of Dreams" continues for Harper, Kate, Becca, and Sophie, BFF. In "Bass Ackwards and Belly Up" (Little, Brown, 2006), Harper, because she did not get into NYU, told a little white liethat she decided to take a year off before college to follow her dream to write a novel. Admiring her bravery, her best friends make a pact to follow their own aspirationsBecca wants to fall in love, Sophie wants to be an actress, and Kate dumps her acceptance to Harvard to find herself by backpacking through Europe. The story continues in this sequel as the girls persist in their efforts while pursuing romantic interests. The events are related through each protagonist's point of view, and the narrative is filled with the label-dropping shallowness of the day. There are sex scenes, strong language, and lots of cute boys. Settings such as a hip Denver coffee shop, Hollywood, and a private college in Vermont, with a humanitarian trip to Ethiopia thrown in, should entice plenty of eager readers, especially fans of the first book. While the story does move quickly and has a decent story line, it's not worthy of the A-list of chick lit."Angela J. Reynolds, Annapolis Valley Regional Library, Bridgetown, NS, Canada"

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