What do You think about The Luckiest Girl (2003)?
I wish I could have been half the young woman at sixteen that Shelley is, honestly, and whenever I read this, I hope I might someday be her yet. I didn't read most of Cleary's YA novels until adulthood (the exception is Fifteen, which I read at ten or so, in the 80's) and I was struck even as an adult by what wonderful novels they are. Cleary has a way of identifying and celebrating the average girl, and now, when everyone is supposed to be above average, it's a good lesson that it hasn't always been this way and wasn't worse when it was. One of the best things about this novel is how clear it is that Shelley is starting out wanting to be like everyone else--to have the same raincoat as all the kids have, the same clothes (and not the blue wool-and-rabbit-hair dress that her mother wants her to have), the same dates. She wants to fit in at her new school and is embarrassed when she knows she stands out as foreign. But by the end of the story, she understands how little any of that matters; she's becoming her own person, seeing the boy she really likes and not the one that will just make the other girls jealous of her, doing the things that interest them both. A lot of people never learn that, and it's so important. I wish I knew what Shelley became when she grew up.
—Nicole
I'm a big fan of realism. I love a good, gritty novel that doesn't pull punches about the reality of life, and the harsher the lesson learned, the more invested I get.But there must still be a little idealism in my cynical, little heart yet (probably nestled next to the part of me that loves puppies and babies and lolcats) because I absolutely loved The Luckiest Girl.I grew up on Beverly Cleary, and I love the Ramona books. I had no idea that Cleary wrote young adult fiction as well, and I was impressed by this one. Shelley Latham lives a great life in Portland, Oregon. She has loving parents, great friends, and a nice boyfriend. But she's inexplicably bored with her perfect life, and when she gets the opportunity to live in California for a school year, she jumps at the chance. She makes friends and gets along well with the family friends she's staying with and even ends up dating the boy of her dreams: the school's basketball star, Philip. Along the way, she learns a lot about family, friends, dreams, expectations, and herself.It sounds terribly cliché, but, somehow, it isn't. Cleary's tale of a young girl's first taste of freedom and independence is sweet and honest. Despite the fact that there's no tragedy in the storyline, it still feels real, and that's mostly a credit to Cleary's depiction of Shelley. She's a nice girl, but she has flaws, and one of them is a flaw common to many young girls: she just doesn't know herself, yet. And that's why Cleary's story rings true. Shelley's reactions are honest. She worries about whether or not an impulsive decision was a mistake. She exults over the smallest hint that the boy she likes might like her back. She's frustrated because she sometimes doesn't understand her parents, and seeing another mother and daughter dynamic helps her to understand her own relationship with her mother.It's all very innocent, but, then again, the book is set in a much simpler time (it was originally published in 1958. While it wasn't the usual "high school = misery" story that I usually gravitate towards (mostly because I identify with them more), I still thoroughly enjoyed The Luckiest Girl. It's a sweet look at a young girl's coming of age, and it made me wistful without feeling manipulated. Beverly Cleary should get more credit than she does.
—Jelinas
This is an awful book! I find it to be quite a wast of time. That is because nothing happens throughout the entire book. I was lead to believe that this book was written so as to relate to teenage girls and I as a teenage girl formed no bond with this book. Shelly the main character went out with three boys throughout the book, and kissed not even one of them! Don't read this book!
—Julzzz
