My Almost Epic Summer

While Irene may not consider her summer to be epic, it is certainly a summer of personal milestones and self-discovery. At first, Irene is a teenager who feels tremendously sorry for herself at being forced into babysitting for two kids all summer. Jessica Almasy delivers all of Irene's personal outrage at this situation. As the summer progresses, Irene begins to grow up. Her newfound maturity is reflected in Almasy's voice; as Irene is transformed into a sympathetic character, the change is wholly believable. Almasy's portrayals of the other characters are also credible--from ultra-cool love interest Drew Fuller to the glamorous Starla, who thinks herself a poet. While the story is not complex, Almasy brings a universally human aspect to her narration. M.R.P. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

March 13, 2006
Griffin (Sons of Liberty
) creates a lighthearted rendering of teenage ennui in this novel introducing Irene, a 14-year-old who is stuck at home in New Jersey while her best friend "spends a glorious, glamorous summer" at tennis camp in Vermont. Irene is passionate about two things: reading books and sketching hairdos of her favorite literary heroines. She dreams of owning her own beauty salon some day, but for the time being, she must tolerate a much less exciting career, baby-sitting the two Prior children five days a week. Just as she's resigned herself to spending hot, miserable days at the beach with her two young wards, Irene meets Starla, a stunningly beautiful but narcissistic lifeguard. The plot thickens when a mutual attraction blossoms between Starla's ex-boyfriend and Irene. Through a first-person narrative full of irony, the author conveys her heroine's alternating envy of and fascination for Starla as well as Irene's gradual realization that she may, after all, be a more interesting person than a bronzed-to-perfection diva. E-mails from Irene's friend at camp and an endearing nun, who was Irene's former English teacher, add an extra dimension to the novel, which underscores such morals as "You can't judge a book by its cover" and "Beauty is only skin deep." Ages 11-up.

October 1, 2006
Gr 7-10-Irene Morse, a 14-year-old New Jersey girl, has dreams of moving to Los Angeles and opening a hair salon featuring hairdos from literary characters in Adele Griffins novel (Putnam, 2006). Her plans come to a screeching halt when she loses her summer job in her moms beauty salon for not measuring up as a shampoo girl. The summer is bad enough with her two best friends away having fun, but then shes forced to take a job babysitting. While at Larkins Pond with her charges, she meets Starla, a beautiful and sassy lifeguard. The summer drags along with days at the pond with the kids, e-mails from her friends, book recommendations from her former English teacher, and flack from her Moms boyfriend. Starla is obsessed over her recent breakup with her boyfriend, D, who turns out to be a boy Irene knew from school several years ago who has morphed into a hunk and likes Irene. It wont be an easy relationship to begin with Starla looming in the background, but Irene realizes she doesnt need to dream anymore, she should just start living and see what happens. Jessica Almasy reads with a fresh teen voice, does a satisfactory job with the adult voices, and intones just the right amount of excitement, neediness, and imploring for the children. Teens will relate to Irenes experiences. A great read, especially for those who enjoy books by Ann Brashares, Meg Cabot, and Sue Limb."Jo-Ann Carhart, East Islip Public Library, NY"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.