Just Another Girl

February 13, 2017
Hope and Parker aren’t friends and never will be—each girl has something the other wants. Hope is eager for her best friend Brady (Parker’s current boyfriend) to see her as more than a friend, and Parker longs for Hope’s uncomplicated life. Because of these mutual jealousies, the girls have never bothered to really get to know each other, until Hope’s mother hires Parker to tutor Hope. Eulberg (We Can Work It Out) tells this story through the two teens’ alternating perspectives, and each storyline involves a countdown: Hope’s story follows her path to a Rube Goldberg machine competition in Cleveland with Brady, while Parker is counting the days until graduation, when she can finally leave town and start her life anew. Though the story is engaging and Parker’s personal history deeply troubling, the focus on the girls’ petty jealousies and general misconceptions of each other starts to become repetitive. Eulberg touches on difficult subjects that include child abandonment, alcoholism, and embezzlement, but doesn’t really dig into them. Ages 14–up. Agent: Erin Malone, William Morris Endeavor.

December 1, 2016
Sixteen-year-old Hope has been nursing a crush on her best friend, Brady, for years, but with graduation rapidly approaching, the clock is ticking if she is going to do something.Hope is convinced that if it were not for Parker, Brady's girlfriend, she might have a chance. When Parker starts tutoring her, though, she becomes more than an obstacle to her happiness. But neither is willing to let her guard down. Hope risks losing all her friends if she cannot get her obsession under control. Unfortunately, while the story is ultimately one of hope and gratitude, the main characters are so unlikable that any good is lost. Hope's single-minded obsession with Brady and her constant whining quickly wear thin, and while Brady's heavy glasses and clumsy ways make him the epitome of geek chic, his insensitivity and manipulation disqualify him as crushworthy. Parker, with her devastating home life, is arguably the most sympathetic of the three, but her decision to put her head down and endure is frustrating. Other than that heartbreakingly real portrayal of a teen trying to survive against the odds, this story fails. Blonde, olive-skinned Hope (her mom is Mexican-American) aside, the cast seems to be a largely white one. There's little to keep readers turning the pages here. (Fiction. 12-16)

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February 1, 2017

Gr 7 Up-What if everything you thought about someone was completely wrong? Eulberg's tragicomic novel explores that question in a story of a love triangle with a hard-reality twist. Hope Kaplan knows her charming, clumsy best friend, Brady, like the back of her hand, and she also knows that he should be with her and not with his obnoxiously perfect girlfriend, Parker. What Hope does not know, however, is that Parker has a secret life that she is barely surviving. The plot unfolds in alternating first-person narratives-Hope's, Parker's, and then (unnecessarily) Brady's. Hope describes her struggle to create a competition-worthy Rube Goldberg machine, break out of her shell, and snag Brady for herself. Parker, a blonde beauty who seems to have everything, tells a very different tale. Readers will find Hope realistic if shallow, partially because she is set up by circumstances, but Parker-tough, confused, rightfully angry-is the star of this show. Sadly, the situation that has made her life so difficult feels unreal, and none of the causes of her distress, especially her family, emerge as anything but props to hold up the plot. While there are many winning elements to this story, especially the concept, the dialogue occasionally seems forced, and the plot drags a little, making this a poor choice for reluctant readers.

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2017
Grades 8-11 Hope and Brady should be a thing. They've known each other forever, and Hope is certain that there are moments when their friendship could become something more. But that something more never happens. Could it be because of Brady's adorable girlfriend, Parker? She of the shiny blonde hair and tiny physique, who seems in full command of Brady's time and attention? But Hope doesn't know the secret shame that Parker conceals from all but a few close friends. This is revealed when the story flips to Parker's point of view. Sure, Parker has Brady. But since Parker and her sister were abandoned by their parents, Parker often goes hungry until someone (Hope's doting mother, for example) offers her food. Eulberg's dual narration shows how the same events appear quite different from each girl's perspective. Parker is not the enviable dream girl that Hope so resents, but just another girl with her own life challenges. This quick read will appeal to readers looking for believable characters, such as those in novels by Jenny Han and Stephanie Perkins.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)