Mates, Dates and Mad Mistakes

Hopkins, Cathy. (2004). Mates, dates and mad mistakes. New York: Simon Pulse.

Reading Level: Grades 6-10

Summary:
Izzie is feeling rebellious. She gets her belly button pierced, gets drunk and high a couple times, fights with her mom, and snogs an older bad-boy. She realizes that she doesn't need to change or give in to peer pressure to be cool, and that she should never neglect her mates for a boy. And she makes up with her mom.

Comments:
This book series is like a bad teen tv series. The actors are all 10 years older than they're supposed to be (i.e. One Tree Hill). In one scene Izzie (14 years old) is singing in a band in a pub, and all her friends are there (late at night). There are lots of things for 14 year olds to do that aren't what their 18 year old counterparts are doing. Hopkins seems to keep rushing her characters to grow up, though at the end of the books they always resolve that they're fine the way they are...uhhh. But, like bad teen tv series, the books get a bit addictive and you want to see what ridiculous things the characters do next.

Rating: 3/5