The Boy Project: Notes and Observations of Kara McAllister by Kami Kinard
For anyone who's ever felt that boys were a different species....
Wildly creative seventh grader Kara McAllister just had her best idea yet. She's going to take notes on all of the boys in her grade (and a few elsewhere) in order to answer a seemingly simple question: How can she get a boyfriend?
But Kara's project turns out to be a lot more complicated than she imagined. Soon there are secrets, lies, and an embarrassing incident in the boy's bathroom. Plus, Kara has to deal with mean girls, her slightly spacey BFF, and some surprising uses for duct tape. Still, if Kara's research leads her to the right boy, everything may just be worth it. . . .
Full of charts and graphs, heart and humor, this hilarious debut will resonate with tweens everywhere.
Publishes in US:
Genre: feels more middle grade contemporary than ya to me
Source: bought
Buy it: Barnes & Noble Amazon IndieBound BookDepository.com
Find Kami online: site twitter facebook blog book trailer
Whimsical novel about a girl on a quest to get a boyfriend... and an A on her science project at the same time. This whole book is written with charts, graphs, notecards, and she is conducting the scientific method studying boys and girls behavior and what they want in a relationship by observation, and of course she learned a lot about herself on the way.
Even done in this style, we still get a good feel for Kara as well as her best friend Tabbs. They have been friends forever, and I love how their friendship is. Kara has to learn a bit about loyalty though, and she does such a job at swallowing her pain to support her friend, because she knew that friendship should come before any boy. Though I don't understand how she couldn't have been more open with Tabb in the first place and then the pain wouldn't have been there... But I guess that I have been the quieter person in a friendship before, so...
The flirting is all really cute, and I approve of how she was finally successful in her experiment and the other friendships and maybe more that she gained by the experiment.
Though it attempted to put in a few other things that she was interested in--crafting and having good grades... Kara was way more boy obsessed than I think was necessary Maybe it was just because the book was like a journal for the project, but still it talked about other things when not exactly relevant to the experiment, so, I don't know.
But I must say that I loved how present and involved her parents were, and even the teachers. Usually in YA the teachers are just there as almost a prop, but not so for Kara. I also loved the bonding moments with her sister Julie. There was also the bickering and eye rolling, but that just made it authentic for me.
Bottom Line: Fun way to spend a few hours.
My question to you, my lovely readers:
How old were you when you got your first girl/boy friend?
I was in the fifth grade when I had my first boyfriend. We dated for 1,5 years and all we did was hold hands and hug each other, but it was fun. Now we're good friends and just laugh about it. You know, I haven't even heard of this book much less seen in around, but it's always great to discover new reading material. I don't know about this one though, the concept sounds lovely, but I'm not sure about more of a middle grade read. For some reason, they just don't sit well for me. I love a good story about falling in love and great friendship though, so maybe I'll look into this anyway. Thanks for sharing, hope you have a beautiful day:)
ReplyDeleteSiiri @ Little Pieces of Imagination
Aww... 5th grade :o
DeleteI honestly don't think this one would work for me, I'm not a big contemporary fan and a boy-obssessed heroine isn't someone I'd enjoy reading about.
ReplyDeleteLol, I think my first sort of boyfriend was in seventh grade.
Oh this sounds like something too girly for my taste. I'm not sure will I read it, but some things sounds funny though. I'm happy you could enjoy it :)
ReplyDeleteIt is very girly
DeleteMain characters who obsess over boys usually tend not to go down well with me, so I'm not sure if this is my sort of book. I do quite like the sound of the unique format though. And I'm glad you found it pretty fun to read. :) Great review!
ReplyDeleteI guess I knew what I was getting myself int, dunno
DeleteThis does sound MG, but it looks like a fun read! I was in sixth grade when I got my first real boyfriend LOL. I like how you described the teacher relationship-as sort of a mentor.
ReplyDeleteThis does sound like an MG, but I like the creative set up of the book.
ReplyDeleteOh it's a cute one, I like the sound of it!
ReplyDeleteNinth grade but it was very short lived. He went to another school and we met on a school trip to Washington DC. We met again later in HS when he played football against our school, but no sparks flew.
ReplyDeleteGood review. You know, I think I'm going to start carrying around duct tape in my purse. There are so many good uses for it. I can imagine so many scenarios where it would have come in handy. This sounds like an adorable book and something I should read when I'm tired of the heavy stuff.
Heather
LOL. In NC prb in good company with duct tape in purse
DeleteThis sounds really cute. If there isn't a whole lot of eye rolling and bickering, I think I'd give it a try some day. Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteI love that her parents were present and that it was written in a journal form for a project. I think her being a bit on the boy obsessed side would bother be a little bit. Sounds like a super cute read! Thanks Brandi! :)
ReplyDeleteI guess description make it clear she is
Deletethis looks cute! thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really cute! I remember being boy obsessed from 6th grade on but my first boyfriend was in 7th grade I think. At least 'real' boyfriend. I had one in 6th grade but it was just silly.
ReplyDeleteTrue. It is the age
DeleteIt is a nice change of pace to have parents that are involved. I notice that in a lot of YA, they are sort of...missing.
ReplyDeleteYes, Def usually missing
DeleteDiary/journal type books do have a different sound to them and I can see how they would be more boy obsessed. I had my first boyfriend in kindergarten after he threw my shoe across the playground. Little red head named David and he ended up failing kindergarten...so I guess we know that I am great at choosing them :)
ReplyDeleteaww. poor david lol except the shoe
DeleteOh, I dont know. Should double check
ReplyDeleteInteresting about the tables, charts, etc. -- I do not think I've read a book where that was done, at least not effectively! This intrigues me
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review
This book sounds so cute! I was boy crazy in jr high, high school, college, after college... :)
ReplyDelete