Friday, April 30, 2010

Whiny Kid: Hangin' Out With Cici

Francine Pascal's Hangin' Out With Cici is the last book I read for the Shelf Awareness Challenge. It's from Chapter 7, and is my 7th book. I'm quite sure I haven't read this book before, because the whiny tone of the narrator seared into my brain, and the scars are life-long. If not longer.

Victoria, the whiny narrator, gets flung back in time where she befriends her young mother. Then she gets flung back where she gets along better with her mom because now she knows her mom used to be nice. And a crazy trouble-maker. The premise is fun, but the main character is a trial, being petty, self-centered, and not that bright. I'm not sure why the mom found her such an immediately great friend. I'm glad Pascal pulled back from her characters a bit for the hundreds of Sweet Valley High books.

This is the last day of the Shelf Awareness Challenge, and I managed to read 7 of the 8 books I wanted. I couldn't find any of my selections from Chapter 8 in my local libraries, and I wasn't ready to perform heroic searches. It was fun going back to the sort of books I read back then, and seeing what I like now and what I would have liked then. I think the tone and poetry of the book matter more now; I don't demand beauty but I'm impatient with ugliness. I guess that means I'm getting old.


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