Book Review - How to Ruin Your Boyfriend's Reputation by Simone Elkeles

I know these books flew off the shelves at my former library.  And I cracked up at Simone Elkeles's presentation at a recent conference - she's one funny lady.  And still, I had not read any of her books.  What is wrong with me?

Oh right, they were never in at my library.  Well, I finally had a chance to read one, and went with the BFYA-eligible How to Ruin Your Boyfriend's Reputation.  Man, was I missing out!  I was feeling under the weather last Saturday night and in lieu of going out to a party, I settled down with the book.  Amy, the series' protagonist reminded so much of Mia Thermopolis.  She was silly but real and so easy to relate to.  Then again, she was doing something I'm not sure even Mia would be brave enough to do - spend 10 days in an Israeli Defense Forces boot camp!  But, like my old pal Mia, she did this for love.  What teenage girl isn't willing to do whatever it takes to be with her man?  In this case, Amy wants to be near her boyfriend Avi, who is serving for the IDF, as part of a requirement for all Israeli citizens.  (Sidenote: Amy is a Jewish American but her father's family lives in Israel.)

Of course, things never go easy in Amy's world, so it's no surprise that when she gets to the boot camp, their toilets are mere holes in the ground, and down go her designer sunglasses.  Eeep!  That's just the beginning of the troubles she has in this by turns hilarious and heartwarming story.