My thoughts: When I first saw the name “Meg Cabot” on the cover of All-American Girl, I had no idea that she was the author of The Princess Diaries—a story that I had seen on screen and never read in paperback.Samantha Madison was the middle child stuck between her older sister’s effervescent popularity and her younger sister’s precocious intelligence. Now, I was never a middle child, but I do know how much the middle sucks, whether that middle is a line at the DMV or a seat on an airplane. Being the eldest in my family, I thought it would be interesting to see life through the eyes of a middle child.The first thing I learned from being born in the middle, according to Sam’s story, was how much I would hate my big sister, Lucy. She was basically your “popular girl” nightmare—she was the one person in school who had all the friends, all the party invitations, and all the guys pawing at her feet. I guess I wouldn’t have minded the whole popularity so much if Lucy was just a little smart or, at least, appear to be smart. But, man, what a ditz!My first impression of Samantha was that she was too political, which probably makes sense since the book was set in America’s capital. I also couldn’t figure out why Samantha refused to take art classes. Wouldn’t that be the natural recourse for aspiring artists to further develop their skills and practice the craft? Yeah, Samantha was already a great artist. But was she so great that she couldn’t stand to be better?As I kept on reading, I felt like I was learning more and more about the problems of rich kids, and Samantha, in her own Beverly Hills way, was protesting against it. I guess she was kind of the black sheep of the bunch, which is probably the general feeling of the middle child. I must admit that throwing in the attempted assassination of the president did include some enticement as in a “what the hell is the president doing here?” kind of way. I liked Sam’s apathetic, no-nonsense attitude and thought it complimented the political theme in the book. I totally related to Sam’s preference to watch The Simpson’s instead of the presidential speech. And I thought it was funny how after saving the president’s life and had injured her arm, all she could think of was how mad her parents will be after they find out she skipped class.Overall, I thought that Cabot rendered Sam as an impressionably naïve and, at times, delusional teen. Throughout the bulk of the story, Sam often fantasized about her sister’s boyfriend, Jack, soon realizing his deep devotion for her and sweeping her off her feet. She also was too quick to agree with whatever Jack said and did. I mean, my god, he wasn’t so great that he needed to control Sam’s mind. And that’s why I was glad she met David, the president’s son, because he freed her mind and her artistic soul. He taught her to think for herself and not be afraid to have opinions of her own. By the end, Sam becomes “patriotic” over an artist’s view of America through her window and fights for her entry in a national art contest, which was a little heart-warming.The one thing that I didn’t like and found really annoying a lot of the time were all the lists like “The Top 10 reasons I hate sushi” or “The Top 10 reasons my sister’s boyfriend is right for me.” Really, what was the point of the lists? Did Cabot want to emphasize a neurotic side of Sam? Was she some kind of list freak?Overall, this book was a combination of Clueless and Legally Blonde—two movies I watched and had no particular fondness for.
I'm going to (attempt to) make this review short and sweet. After all, I have a NaNoWriMo novel to pen. :)I had quite a few issues with this book. First off, the whole "Jack being Sam's soul mate" thing. It was so annoying. Cabot really didn't sell it to me, for one thing, and as a result it felt super forced. Secondly, it was weird...and annoying. I got tired of reading about Sam's "love" for Jack. So dumb.Secondly, the whole book was too far-fetched for me. I don't think that saving the life of the president would make you as big a star as it made Sam. The Smithsonian certainly wouldn't want the cast Sam's broken arm was in. Also, she wouldn't have suddenly become the new It Girl at school because she saved the president's life. Trust me, I'm in high school, and while saving the president from dying would certainly make you much more popular, someone as dorky as Sam would never be the It Girl.Thirdly, Sam suddenly declaring that she "loves" and is "in love" with David left and right toward the end of the book just because she blushes around him and her heartbeat picks up. No, honey, that's called infatuation - a simple crush. She's hardly even known David and even outright admits that she knows nothing about him. That's not love. It was clear by the end of the book that Sam has no idea what love is. I rolled my eyes on more than one occasion.Fourthly, the writing style bothered me. It was authentic and read like Sam's voice, sure, but it wasn't my cup of tea. Especially Cabot's irritating habit to say "I went" instead of "I said." It's okay to say things like "I went" when talking, because we all do it, but in a book I want something more professional.Lastly, some of the themes pushed bothered me...a lot. I'm not going to get into them here because they involve politics and religion - two things I have very strong opinions on - so let's just say that they knocked this down another star. Now, two things I liked: I really liked Sam's relationship with Lucy. It felt very real. I'm the oldest in my family so I have no idea what it's like to have a big sister (only a little one) but I thought how Lucy treated Sam seemed very much like how a big sister would treat their loser little sister. I went into this book thinking it would be a quick, mindless read, and it didn't disappoint. That's the second thing I liked. This would be a great beach read, or it would be great after you read a really complex novel. Unfortunately, I haven't read a complex novel lately, and there's snow on the ground, so...This was a quick, fun read without much to really think about and contemplate. However, it had a lot of flaws, most I could not overlook, and that significantly lowered its rating.2.5 stars.
What do You think about All-American Girl (2003)?
The name of this book is called "The all american girl" by Meg Cabot. She saved the presidents life and she thinks that her life is so horrible!She gets a feeling that the presidents son. shes taking all of these art lessons and she doesn't like any bit of her life. Everything's just so crazy for her at school and at home. Her sister is hot according to everyone and she knows every bit about relationships and everything in between. Her younger sister is talented and she just don't think that she has everything that her other siblings have. she doesnt think that she has talent. I think this was a really good book because its a different point of view the you would see yourself in. You would place yourself in that characters shoes and you would know exactly how shes feeling. its entertaining and makes you laugh you butt off.
—Nancy
This week I finished All American Girl by Meg Cabot. It was overall a good book. It is the story of a girl named Samantha (Sam) Madison who loves art. But after getting caught drawing celebrity portraits for her classmates, her parents are forcing her to take an art class. Samantha doesn't think she needs any classes and is the best artist she can be already. But when she is in the right place in the right time when an assassination attempt on the president is made, her whole world is turned ups
—Allison
Samantha is caught selling celebrity portraits at school and so her mother decides that maybe she needs a creative outlet and signs her up for art classes. Samantha does not want to take art classes, she doesn't think that they would be any use to her, and when she runs it by her older sister's boyfriend, Jack (whom she's secretly in love with) he totally agrees with her. Samantha decides to just go to the first class and then she'll ditch it, but she finds that it is actually kind of interesting, and that there is also a boy her age. Then one day (after she has skipped class, and hung out in the CD store upstairs for an hour) she comes out and sees the president walking into a store, but what she also sees is a man with a gun aiming for his head. Before Samantha can really think about it, she tackles the guy with the gun and saves the president's life. Samantha, as she sees it, thinks her life is over.Top Ten Things You Should Know Before You Read This Book:1. It made me laugh.2. I was highly amused by the top ten lists littered throughout the book telling the story of what Samantha had gotten herself into.3. Some parts of the story were slightly unrealistic and made me want to gag.4. I didn't care for the age different between Samantha and David.5. I thought that sometimes Samantha got a little ahead of herself and needed to respect authority more.6. I thought Samantha's sister was a pretty interesting character.7. I didn't care for Samantha's sister's boyfriend, I thought that he needed to grow up and get over himself, I also couldn't see what her sister was doing hanging around this kind of scum.8. I thought that the fact that Samantha was "in love" a little unrealistic for someone that young.9. Overall I enjoyed this book.10. I'd probably recommend it.*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2008...
—Snorkle
