It's too bad I didn't pick this up last fall at a bookstore I'd stopped at - I would enjoy owning this (FYI, I did pick up Stargirl, SVH #3 Playing with Fire [the 2008 reissue], and The Veronicas' Hook Me Up).


On my copy, it says "scratch and sniff here" on the top of the cup. Unfortunately, I can't confirm the verity of that statement, since the cover is covered with plastic.

Geena is excited that her wealthy cousin Hero is going to spend the summer working with her and her friend Amber at the Triple Shot Betty coffee shack. But trashy Amber and princess-y Hero clash immediately, and Geena is disappointed and frustrated. But soon she's distracted with boys: PJ and John, two popular brothers who are suddenly chummy with the girls; Claudio, an intern from Italy whom Hero falls for; and Ben, Geena's "archenemy" in school who's also pretty hot (isn't that always the case?). John wants to basically get into Hero's pants, but Amber's crushing on him; meanwhile, Uncle Leo won't let Hero date unless she has a chaperone ... a job Geena does not want, especially when they suggest a double date with Ben. Adding to Geena's stress is the fact that her dad - divorced from her sweet, solid mom - is spending too much time with his younger girlfriend and not enough with his only child. But as Geena learns who she can and can't trust, not to mention how appearances can be decieving, she learns how to demonstrate her loyalty to the different people in her life (with the help of a couple of do-gooder stoners).

I have my issues with the book: Amber is hard to like, seeing as she's as judgmental as she thinks everyone else is; the absent dad subplot isn't very well developed; and there's not enough focus on Geena and Ben's growing relationship. However, I'm not about to rag on this book, because it so happens that this is based on one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, Much Ado About Nothing. I can't tell you how much I dig well-done updates of beloved stories - not only spotting the parallels between the characters and plot, but noting how the author tweaks the update to reflect the change in modern sensibilities (I've mentioned this before). Gehrman changes the pivotal characters' behaviors and personalities enough to distinguish them and make them her own, yet doesn't ruin the basic plot. She turns Beatrice into Geena, a girl who trades barbs with Ben(edick) about who'll be the next valedictorian and is worried about her massive boobs. She turns Margaret - a minor friend of the innocent Hero (the original) - into a main character who has a real and realistic backstory. And she makes sure the villian is shown getting his due (in the play, he's caught and promptly forgotten). If I had one complaint, it's that the Hero-and-Amber-hate-each-other subplot felt forced, and maybe distracts from the drama later in the book. In a Shakespeare play, you basically have your pick of drama, and don't really need to add your own.

On thinking on it, Gehrman does a good job of handling a huge cast of characters while giving Geena a funny, fresh voice. A good summer read. Rating: 4 supersized iced mochas out of 5.