Mates, Dates, and Sole Survivors

Hopkins, Cathy. (2002). Mates, Dates, and Sole Survivors. New York: Simon Pulse.

Reading level: Grades 6-10

Summary:
School is out, and 14-year-old London native Lucy doesn't know how to spend her summer vacation. All her friends recently acquired boyfriends, and Lucy feels like the odd one out. This situation doesn't last for long. At a get-away weekend with her father, Lucy meets what would seem to be her dream boy. But the dream is soon over when Lucy's friends disapprove of her relationship. Are her friends being too critical, or is Daniel not the same boy Lucy fell for?

Comments:
This book is quite bland. It's a popular series at the moment, and I can't figure out why. The narrative is decent and moves at a fast pace. One interesting feature of the series is that the four friends take turns narrating books in the series, so the reader gets to know each girl very well. There are a few humorous situations, but the majority of the book Lucy is obsessing over boys. At first she wants a boyfriend. Then she decides she is fine without a boyfriend, as she has great mates. Very soon after that resolution she meets Daniel and is delighted to finally have a boyfriend. There is no depth to the book, and it's hard to take the girls' independent attitudes seriously when they are constantly on the lookout for new boyfriends. Also, 14-year-olds do not have serious, thoughtful conversations with their friends in coffee shops. Well, maybe they do in England...

Rating: 3/5