Certain Girls

January 28, 2008
Following the story collection The Guy Not Taken
, Weiner turns in a hilarious sequel to her 2001 bestselling first novel, Good in Bed
, revisiting the memorable and feisty Candace “Cannie†Shapiro. Flashing forward 13 years, the novel follows Cannie as she navigates the adolescent rebellion of her about-to-be bat mitzvahed daughter, Joy, and juggles her writing career; her relationship with her physician husband, Peter Krushelevansky; her ongoing weight struggles; and the occasional impasse with Joy's biological father, Bruce Guberman. Joy, whose premature birth resulted in her wearing hearing aids, has her own amusing take on her mother's overinvolvement in her life as the novel, with some contrivance, alternates perspectives. As her bat mitzvah approaches, Joy tries to make contact with her long absent maternal grandfather and seeks more time with Bruce. In addition, unbeknownst to Joy, Peter has expressed a desire to have a baby with Cannie, which means looking for a surrogate mother. Throughout, Weiner offers her signature snappy observations: (“good looks function as a get-out-of-everything-free cardâ€) and spot-on insights into human nature, with a few twists thrown in for good measure. She expends some energy getting readers up to speed on Good
, but readers already involved with Cannie will enjoy this, despite Joy's equally strong voice.

The sequel to GOOD IN BED occurs 13 years after that vengefully funny story of a fat girl who puts her boyfriend in his place after he publishes an article about their sex life. In this work Cannie, now a wife and mother, prepares for her daughter Joy's bat mitzvah. Julie Dretzin's portrayal of Cannie is appropriately anxious. Much of her humor is subdued by her worries over her mothering and her husband's request for a second child. Rachel Botchan narrates alternate chapters, using a young voice to depict Joy and coloring her reading with the teenager's anger over family secrets and determination to uncover her mother's past. Though more serious than Weiner's first book, this sequel has emotion and wit, as well as an enjoyable plot twist near the end. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Starred review from March 1, 2008
Clear your calendar and prepare to read: Cannie Shapiro (of "Good in Bed") is back! Cannie, now 42, has been married to her "Doctor Peter" for more than ten years, and "baby" Joy is turning 13. In alternating chapters covering roughly a year, Cannie and Joy share the emotion-packed experiences of parenting and being a teen. (At some point, Weiner may have planned this as "The Bat Mitzvah Diaries".) Added complications are Peter's desire for a baby via surrogate and Joy's classmates' discovery of the sexy novel Cannie published a decade ago, "Big Girls Don't Cry" (i.e., "Good in Bed"). Joy vacillates between loving and hating her mother and her complex family structure, while Cannie struggles to let her baby grow up; readers will laugh and cry for them both. Returning in this sequel, among others, is Cannie's best friend, Sam, still looking for the perfect mate (i.e., an unmarried Jewish male under 60). With six best sellers in seven years, Weiner is a talented writer who consistently delivers the goods. (Note: "Fk" is sprinkled judiciously throughout.) An essential read for fans and an essential buy for public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 7/07; originally slated for October 2007 publication.Ed.]Rebecca Kelm, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights

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