HOW NOT TO SPEND YOUR SENIOR YEAR
Cameron Dokey
Simon Pulse
Romance
ISBN: 0689867034
304 pages

• Read an Excerpt

In this wacky title, Jo O'Connor moves to a new school, must fake her own death, and then come back to "life" to help people she has affected. Definitely light reading, HOW NOT TO SPEND YOUR SENIOR YEAR still has a few surprising moments.

The plot here is crazy and at times confusing. Jo's father needs to keep their identity a secret, so Jo has moved multiple times, to multiple schools. On her first day at Beacon High she meets Alex and Elaine, and has an instant connection with both. Alex quickly becomes her boyfriend, and Elaine her best friend. Then Jo's father tells her she has to move quickly, and that she has to fake her own death!

After undergoing an extreme makeover, Jo sneaks back into her old school to offer comfort, only to be spotted as a rumored ghost! Her 'ghost' takes on a life of its own and even gets nominated for Prom Queen. At her new school she is assigned to cover life at her old school for the newspaper, muddying the waters further. If the ending is too neat, it will satisfy readers as any romantic comedy should.

Surprisingly, the characters in this novel have some depth and realistic notions. Highlights include the friendship between Elaine and Jo. Too many teen novels have girls fighting over a guy, and while both Elaine and Jo are interested in Alex, their friendship overcomes what could have been dealt with as a competition in other books. Also noteworthy is the fact that Alex and Jo change their minds and don't always know what they want.

Less plot and more characters would have made this a better book, but HOW NOT TO SPEND YOUR SENIOR YEAR will still offer readers a little fun.

   --- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

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