You. Yes, You.
10 years ago today a book about a girl, trying to find her way through the epic-less monstrosity of high school, was published. Her name: Jessica Darling. She gave us the insights of what really went down in suburban American for the teenage girl today. We laughed (a lot) and we cried (also a lot) right along side her. Her journey through some of the toughest times of adolescence is what made this story so amazing. It was REAL. Any young girl could pick up this book and relate to something, anything, among these pages.
There are no wizards, vampires, princesses, or unicorns. It's just a story, about a girl, her family, her friends, her peers, her crush, her hometown life, her high school, and everything else in between. It's a story that I felt connected to, even at 30 years old. Jessica Darling brought me back to what life is like as a teenage girl. Oh the drama and insane popularity contests that went along with high school! But it also reminded me how important these years are.
I am celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty on my blog today! I love this series so so much and want to spread that love to all of my followers. In regards to this fantastic celebration, I will be giving away a copy of Sloppy Firsts to one lucky winner! All you have to do is fill out this form RIGHT HERE and leave me a comment about your high school experience. Was it memorable? If you could go back & change something, what might you do differently? Any and all stories are welcome! If you've read Sloppy Firsts, please share some of YOUR favorite moments from the book as well.
Jessica: You once called me sloppy firsts.
Marcus: What?!
Jessica: You did.
Marcus: That's offensive. And it doesn't even make sense. I mean, I've heard of sloppy seconds, but sloppy firsts? I guess I didn't know what to say to you, so I just said something stupid to fill the void. Something like Blame Byron! ... Sloppy firsts. What does that even mean?
Jessica: I don't know, either, and I've been spending the last ten years trying to figure it out.
My love for Jessica Darling goes beyond Sloppy Firsts. See my reviews here:
+ Sloppy Firsts
+ Second Helpings
+ Charmed Thirds
+ Fourth Comings
+ Perfect Fifths
Thank you Megan McCafferty for giving us a story that is REAL. Happy 10 years!!
If I could go back to my teenage years and redo high-school, I wouldn't date any boys. I would also attempt band ;-)
ReplyDeleteI still haven't read this and really want to! My high school experience... Well, I was homeschooled, which at that age... I hated passionately. I wanted to be able to experience prom, cheerleading, boys, cliques, etc. Now I'd never go back and change it. Yes, I didn't have a single boyfriend throughout my teens, but I ended up spending free time fundraising for trips in the summer and ended up saving enough to go to Thailand and Panama to do volunteer work and was able to see Myanmar and Japan as well. And when I was 18 I moved to Russia and then lived in Dubai and have been travelling ever since. I highly doubt I would have done all of that if I had gone to an actual highschool. I probably would have ended up with a boyfriend and friends and wanting to stay in the area I lived. I think that is one of the reasons why I actually have an interest in YA novels still at 26, because it is a way of living through some of the things that I missed out on. Reading about it though, is good enough for me. :)
ReplyDeleteawesome giveaway, I also have one on my blog if you are interested and it is international.
ReplyDeletehave a lovely sunday ginger
Thanks for the giveaway! A memorable experience? In high school? Oh dear. LOL. High school was okay, I guess. I was a quiet, shy bookworm & music addict. I didn't really fit in with the jocks, drama kids, braniacs, band kids or any of the other groups. For the most part I kept to myself, did my own thing & counted down the days until I could get out of my tiny hometown. Sure, I may not have been popular or even memorable to anyone else but my best friends, but I liked who I was. Oh! One memorable experience was when our choir went California & performed at Disneyland during my junior year. I had an absolute blast.
ReplyDeleteAlready own, so just dropping by to say a very big "Happy 10th!!" I can't wait to start this series. I'm trying to fit it in before the year is up :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Sunday, and Happy celebrating. I know you also have a crush on Marcus ;-)
Thanks for the giveaway! I can't believe I haven't read this yet!
ReplyDeleteMy high school experience.. Well, there were some bad times, but mostly, there were REALLY good times! Especially the last two years when I found the group of friends I still hang out with. One of the most memorable things were the trip to Prague and just the fun we had during lunch breaks (and class, but a little quieter ;) ).
A thing I'd do different: try and not care so much about what other people thought, really wasn't worth it.
Okay, I just can't help myself. After reading your reviews about these books I want to read them so bad! Now onto the juicy details of my high school experience! Freshman year I was shy, awkward, my head was too big for my body and the only people I talked to was my best friend Kati and a few others. My English teacher made me cry and I missed middle school so much. Sophomore year was a little better. I got a lot more friends even though I was super shy. I even got my first boyfriend! We dated for almost two years and guess what, during those 2 years he only kissed me twice. How is that for taking it slow!?! Junior year was amazing! I was more out-going, was having an awesome time with my friends, and I scored a co-op job so I got to get out of class for an hour every day to help work in the office. During this time I went through my "bad girl " stage. That only consisted of me dating a guy my parents hated! He dumped me over MySpace asking if we could "take a rain check on our relationship." My first three years definitely paled in comparison to my senior year. It was the best year anyone could ask for! I had so much fun every day of school. In the end, I would not change a single thing. High school was actually pretty memorable for me! Thank you so much for the giveaway Ginger :)
ReplyDeleteA memorable experience from high school was when our cheerleading squad won a major competition while our dance team was at nationals which everyone made a big deal about and they didn't even place.
ReplyDeleteI actually read the first two books years ago and picked up the third one a few weeks back. I think a reread and a complete readread of the whole lot is in order!
ReplyDeleteI remember being hazed my freshman year, all freshman band memebers were woken up at 5am taken to this persons house and thrown into the pool. While dripping wet we marched in the street and then had breakfast shivering wet at the local pancake house. Good times.
ReplyDeleteJessica Darling + Marcus Flutie forever
ReplyDeleteI was a goodie two shoes in high school - always staying out of trouble, avoiding parties, and never making it past second base with any of my boyfriends. Imagine my surprise when my name ended up on a bathroom wall with the words "...is a slut" following it! I later found out that a girl in my class liked the guy I was dating, and took her frustration out with a Sharpie. I couldn't decide whether to be offended or flattered. :)
ReplyDeleteHigh school was interesting. I'm not really sure if I enjoyed it or not. There were fun times (like breaking the faucet in the biology lab when the water was running and memorizing trivia for quiz bowl) and not so great times as well. But overall it was okay. My favorite part of high school? Meeting my future husband.
ReplyDeleteUnlike Jessica, for the most part, I actually loved high school. One of my most memorable experiences would have to be our trip to Disney World in my senior year. It was my first time in Florida, my first time in Disney, and even though we only spent four days there, just being in some place, sorry for the cliche, MAGICAL with my friends was amazing. It was actually also my first time away from home for an extended period of time without my family, which was an interesting experiment (since I spent my university years going away to college, but still close enough to come home every once in a while). Would I change anything about it? Haha, probably not. I had a fantastic time. Except maybe my choice in books back then. Thankfully, a few months after I graduated (days after I settled into college), I discovered Sloppy Firsts, and Jessica and Marcus have been there for me, guiding and inspiring me, ever since.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this giveaway! I truly love these books and would love to enter.
infalliblyyours[at]gmail[dot]com
My worst high school experience was walking into high school as a transfer student who knew no one and who hated the fact she'd had to move. It felt like everyone else there had gone to school together since they were in diapers and no one wore anything but flannel shirts and blue jeans! Total hicksville after the overly preppy school I'd moved from.
ReplyDeleteBut I grew to love wearing flannel shirts (instead of tights with shorts! Oh 90s fashion) and met the people who are still my best friends in French class. Luckily I was a year ahead so I got put in the sophomore class and met my dearest friend Jenni and another member of our 'fearsome foursome' almost instantly - through reading fantasy books! No one can say reading doesn't bring you friends.
High school was awesome. My group of friends didn't care about popularity or parties and just hung out in the band room and onstage and on the soccer field. We studied physics together and skipped school to visit colleges (after we were already accepted elsewhere). It was a great experience - but I'll never forget those first six weeks when I felt like I'd never, ever be happy again.
So many experiences. I remember Homecoming Hall decorations...fun and sense of community. My senior year the Persian Gulf War was raging, so we used a Patriotic theme. I loved seeing pictures from that year at our 20th year reunion.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, high school. It's so funny for me think about because I now teach in a high school, so I see the stuff I went through over and over again. My own experience wasn't bad, really. I went to a decent private school and met my best friend my freshman year, who is awesome and we are still super close. I had a small group of really close girlfriends (the five) and we had an extended group of friends who were all just good people. I don't miss it, at all, but now that I teach, I try to make school a little easier for my high schoolers by being a nice, understanding teacher who can be a listening ear if needed. Funny how things circle back :)
ReplyDeleteOkay, I have to read this book after your review and the teaser. I don't really know what to say about my high school experience. I met two of my closest friends there and the third I've known since nursery so thats what I'm happiest for. It had some great moments, some not so much & some that were so embarassing it's a good thing I can laugh at myself. Like my seat breaking in French class, I landed on my back with my legs in the air. How graceful ha! Overall, it wasn't that bad. Thanks for doing the giveaway, Ginger! :-)
ReplyDeleteI always had fun lunch talks with my group of friends :)
ReplyDeleteA memorable moment was going to a fondue restaurant for lunch on a French class field trip. I don't really know french, but I STILL love that place. LOL H.S. was pretty good for me...mainly because I had good friends. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been.
ReplyDeletelauren51990 AT aol DOT com
My high school experience was so weird, I think I was a different person every year. I wan unpopular but had great friends the first year then the next hung out with the cool crowd but had horrible backstabbing girlfriends like in Mean Girls, I wish I could go back and had never changed the way I was and left my true friends behind to be a part of the "it" crowd, that's something I think about often and wish I could change. The one good thing was finding my husband who I've been with since we were in 11th grade, after I met him I didn't really care about the "it" crowd.. yeah I could go on forever about this so I'll stop now before a write a whole post in this comment..lol!! Awesome Contest Ginger, thanks!
ReplyDeleteSince I'm currently sucked into FNL, I can't help but recap my memories of playing sports in high school. I played volleyball, basketball, and softball, so basically sports year round. And I had some AMAZING coaches during my freshman and sophomore years (that remind me very much of Coach Taylor). Those were definitely some great memories!
ReplyDeletei had such an amazing cluster of friends that i hung out with ALL the time, and they are definitely my fondest memory from high school. whenever I read a contemporary YA novel, i feel like i'm connecting with them all over again. :)
ReplyDeleteThe most memorable thing about highschool was the summer camp I went to. I met the greatest friends there and that camp is just all around amazing. Also doing community theatre. What's not to love about that? :)
ReplyDeleteThe most memorable thing about high school is friendship. I've actually stayed closer to some of the teachers I had rather than the students. I've celebrated birthdays and weddings, been there for births and deaths. My former teachers are great friends these days.
ReplyDeleteMickey @ imabookshark
So highschool was epic for me. I had my first heartach, and found my future husband, about two years apart. I also met my best friend in 10 th grade and we are still as close as sisters. Thanks so much for this giveaway.
ReplyDeleteI once had a sort-of-love/hate relationship with a guy, just like Jessica's with Marcus. I didn't realize it at the time, but he really liked me and I only found this out about three years after graduation. It still weirds me out because I always just saw him as this aloof and sometimes cruel guy, so I don't know what I would have done if he'd told me he liked me. That said, he's now in a very happy relationship and I like my life the way it is. All's well that ends well!
ReplyDeleteMy first pep rally as a senior in high school. We all made crowns out of burger king cardboard crowns.
ReplyDelete-Michelle @ Book Briefs
High School Marching Band. My most memorable moments came from FB games, band trips, and concerts.
ReplyDeleteWell, I just started high school two weeks ago, so I don't have many memories. But at the moment, I like getting the chance to learn a foreign language :D
ReplyDeletex
Sierra(:
Haha sloppy firsts, cracks me up. Sounds like learning to kiss for the first time. I mean kissing for the first time. lol
ReplyDeleteI would have studied more. Seriously!
ReplyDeleteI graduated in 1997. All the seniors dressed in our school colors (blue and gray) and made a giant 97 on the football field for a big picture spread for the yearbook. All high schools do this, right? Well, I wore solid red that day & still laugh at how easily identified I am in that giant 97 picture. Fun!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've never read these books. Yet another series you make me want to read, G.
ReplyDeleteSo when I was in the 11th grade I started dating my now husband. We were friends for about 2 years before that. During that time I experienced my first concert, my first long distance car ride, my first kiss in the rain, and my first everything. I would not change my last two years of high school for anthing....:)
ReplyDeleteI went to an all girl catholic school I always remember those "study periods" that we did anything but study lol more like drool over the latest teen magazine...
ReplyDeleteI just graduated this past June but it felt more like I'd been gone for two years prior to that. See, I attended Running Start (for those that don't know, it's where you go to college while you're still enrolled in high school) for my Junior and Senior years. I wouldn't change a thing either. I was able to escape my small town high school (really, our entire school -- k-12 -- was in one building) and all the drama that went with it. I was able to grow up, change my mind a few times, and experience a bit of adult-hood all while everyone else was still worried about what sport to play and whether they should dump their boyfriend or not.
ReplyDeleteI graduated 11 years ago (holy cow that went by fast!) and it's amazing how little I remember about it. If I could go back I would totally tell myself not to stress about all the dramas of life back then because none of them matter now. And I wish I had reached out a little more and been less self-conscious.
ReplyDeleteI've had this book on my list forever, and now I'm wondering why I haven't read it yet! As for high school...well, it's been 9 years since I graduated. I was never popular, but I was lucky enough to have a very small close-knit group of friends who I did everything with. One of those friends I've known since Kindergarten, and we're still very close today, 20-some years later. If I could do anything differently, I'd try harder to overcome my shyness, make more friends, work up the courage to talk to boys, and attend the high school functions that I avoided because I was too shy and too worried what people would think of me. I often find myself wishing that I could go back to high school as an adult, knowing what I know now.
ReplyDeleteI am in college now but it honestly feels like high school hasn't ended/
ReplyDeleteSee now I am from India so things are probably a little different!
But okay I really liked high school. I hate college. The students are terrible and mean and unkind and evil and cruel and I could go onn..!!
You need to be intelligent to survive. It's all about the scores. It's always been all about the scores. If you are dumb they laugh at you. i.e ME!
Okay I am just venting. Back to high school! High school was cool. It was all about fun, dates and being really stupid and immature and getting away with it. Best days of my life I could say. So much better than college.
My high school experience wasn't great or terrible. The only thing I can think of that I would want to redo is my fashion choices. I can't believe I came to school in tights and a baggie minnie mouse t-shirt, just because I loved minnie mouse! And when I say baggie I mean it belonged to my mother who was a plus size woman and I was a bean pole. Yeah terrible, lol.
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to read this book for AGES! I have some strong memories from high school, like waking up every morning and driving to my bff's house where I'd let myself in and wake everyone up there and my bff and I would get ready for school together. I remember being friends with all different groups of people but my bff was teased because she was goth (it was a small school). I always thought it was weird that i was left alone and she was picked on so much. My high school years were pretty darn good for me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the awesome giveaway!
During my sophmore year I fell down the stairs. I didn't just fall, I slide down the stairs on my backpack. I had to just walk it off like nothing happened.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to high school yet. I'm in eighth grade. Although I must say that I REALLY want this book because I've heard how life changing it is and that teens should read it. I've been wanting it for ages! A middle school memory of mine is reading at recess haha. And the school dances, hopping around on crutches to the music (I had broken my ankle. I dressed up as an angel and went as a "fallen angel" for the Halloween dance).
ReplyDeletei guess my most memorable high school moment was graduation day when our whole senior class was really together for the first time--no cliques, no jocks, no populars, etc. and it was awesome.
ReplyDeleteHigh school wasn't all that exciting for me. I had my close group of friends and we did everything together, I did well in school and had fun. It was nice because my high school didn't really have cliques, so it was not so horrible to get through.
ReplyDeleteI went to an "alternative" high school in Berkeley California so our school went up to yosemite and had to hike up to the base of half dome. The next morning after a bear had wandered into camp in the middle of the night and sat on/against one of the tents, we were supposed to continue up to the top. A group of us refused to go and the teachers just left us.
ReplyDelete