A great book. Really. Funny, thoughful, realistic. I felt so many of the same things at the beginning of high school. And even later in life. As someone who is getting ready to marry a so-called nerd (at least he would say he was back in high school), I identify with Jessie on all counts.
Plus, the writer went to my college, shares my profession, and her main character reads some of my favorite contemporary YA lit. What more could you ask for? ( )

I really liked this book. Jessie struggled with many of the same things we all do at that age: whether to be cool or to be the person we know we are inside. That doesn't necessarily mean playing D&D on Friday nights, but it can be difficult to come to the realization that the cool crowd isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I was part of that "punk" crowd in high school, so I can really relate to the whole scene Halpern describes. It made me chuckle at the recognition. The situations are so real and true and familiar that I wonder whether Ms. Halpern and I went to school together! Another teacher in my building and I were pondering whether I could offer this to seventh graders or if it should be reserved for eighth grade only. We talked about some of the content in the book, and I am still torn. There are none of the far-fetched, small-percentage chance sort of situations here. It is all real stuff that happens to regular kids. I'll have to think on it more.

All in all, a very sweet book. A story about maturing and realizing that image is nothing if we aren't happy with who we and those around us are on the inside. Great message, and a quick, enjoyable read.

( )

It happens to everyone: a longtime friend changes on you and things aren't the same anymore, and it's just time to move on. Jessie's two best friends Bizza and Char are obsessed with being part of a cool crowd, horning in on Jessie's brother's band practice like groupies. After Bizza selfishly hooks up with Jessie's crush (and contracts an STD), Jessie looks elsewhere for friendship and finds the niche where she belongs, even if her cool cred might take a hit. Jessie's first-person narrative is chatty, smart and funny; she's a thoughtful, nerdy teen who comes across as a girl you'd like to befriend. This book shows that it's OK and necessary to outgrow friends, and that finding true pals who genuinely share your interests is better than trying to meet expectations of cool. The portrayal of Jessie's close relationship with brother Barrett is particularly nice. ( )

The title intrigued me. The synopsis had me worried. The actual book... was great.

Jessie is a clever, interesting teenage girl who has the added bonus of actually sounding like a real teenage girl. Young adult novels often apparently share the impression that the only thing teenage girls ever care about is social status and boys and shopping, but Jessie is a math whiz, a caring sister who will miss bantering with her older brother when he leaves for college, and though she has a crush on one of her brother's friends, she doesn't write her name with little hearts around it either.

When her two best friends abandon her to hang out with said brother's friend, she balances the pain of seeing people you loved and thought were forever drifting away with the anger of being tossed aside. So she makes new friends. And that's when it gets interesting.

So many young adult novels have people think they're nerds because they're good at math or don't smoke or whatever. It hasn't been *that* long since high school, and none of those things really mattered. But Julie Halpern picked the one last taboo in a culture where Lord of the Rings is cool again, Star Wars is awesome, and it's considered cool to be a nerdy gamer: tabletop role-playing. Specifically, D&D.

I was half-cringing in expectation when it came to Jessie's first game night: was the author a true D&D player? Was she faking it based on 80s propagandist movies?

My fears were almost immediately alleviated at the first time the DM said, "Roll for initiative", and I knew that she was a true RP'er when she pointed out that most tabletop gamers look down on LARPers. Here was a woman who knows of what she speaks.

Jessie isn't the only interesting character, though - the group she games with are a little bit on the misfit side, but mostly normal. They're not portrayed as stereotyped nerds, just a little off the beaten path. And that's pretty much true. Of the guys I used to game with, one is a therapist, another is a lawyer, and another is a police officer. It's refreshing to see any media with D&D showing normal people, rather than one-step-away-from-psychopath or socially crippled nerds.

All in all, that's the word that best describes this book. Refreshing. It's a new take on an old story (girl grows apart from friends in high school due to boy troubles) and Jessie and her friends are smart, funny, and engaging.

Definitely worth a read, especially if you're one of the tribe who carries their D20s ever at the ready, just in case. ( )

I read this book quite a while ago and recently re-discovered it and I am glad to say it stood the test of time!

This book is a bit hard to get into, but once you do it's like a black hole that keeps pulling you back in (and I mean that in the best way possible). The characters are perfectly formed and their interactions are at times laugh out loud hilarious. I can relate to the main character's occasional feelings of being lost and left behind in her friend group and finding a better group of people to hang out with, which made the book more enjoyable for me.

I'm so glad to have rediscovered this book, and even though the beginning is a bit hard to get through I promise it's worth it!

Every time I read this book I want to find a group of people to play dungeons and dragons with ( )