Publisher: Random House Childrens BooksPub. Date: June 2007
Age Range: Young Adult
Pages: 240
Format: paperback
Source: from publisher - Random House
Josie, Nicolette, and Aviva all get mixed up with a senior boy–a cool, slick, sexy boy who can talk them into doing almost anything he wants. In a blur of high school hormones and personal doubt, each girl struggles with how much to give up and what ultimately to keep for herself. How do girls handle themselves? How much can a boy get away with? And in the end, who comes out on top? A bad boy may always be a bad boy. But this bad boy is about to meet three girls who won’t back down.
I enjoyed this book, I really did. It's a lovely story that helps teenagers tell what they really want from what they really need in a relationship. Love and sex, two topics probed throughout the novel will give you a brand new view of their own feelings.
Written in verse, A Bad Boy Can Be Good For tells the stories of three young girls - Josie, excited yet nervous to start her first year at highschool; Nicolette, strong, wild, believes that sex can control everything; Aviva, a criss crosser everyone falls short of noticing. The one and only common thing among them all is each girl, by one way or another, is involved a with nameless bad boy - the boy they think they can change into a better person. Same story but different details, each shows us a significant side how a relationship with someone you should never get close to could affect your life and your way of thinking.
Even though the writing is nice, I have to say it's not a book for every teenagers. The descriptions of sex sometimes turn out to be quite graphic and could upset a certain amount of readers. Besides, the plot is predictable, you already know how it goes - he hits on her, she falls in love, he dumps her, she breaks down - thus, it's kind of boring. However, what the author wants to get across to readers will keep you going on til the ending. A really nice, funny ending, indeed.
If you're one of those girls who like the bad boy gone good kind of story then for sure this one won't satisfy you. But although a bad boy cannot be good for a girl, he can help you realize the meaning of being with someone you love, of growing up and having enough courage to leave behind the heartbroken, foolish pieces to move on and live happily.
Rating: 3/5
5 comments:
Awesome review! I'm not sure if I've ever read a verse novel. Will look it up and double check.
In July (hopefully), I'm going to be holding a Sex in Teen Lit Month over on my sub-blog, Ink and Paper Specials, with additional comments coming from Luisa Plaja as a fellow-author-come-reader-come-mother and this is one of the novels I'll be reviewing/discussing. Tanya Lee Stone has also agreed to be interviewed about the book and the subject. If you're interested, please check the blog out for more details, it would be awesome if you could join in the discussions when it starts :)
By the way, you have an award to collect on my blog:
http://jo-scrawls.blogspot.com/2009/06/literary-blogger-award.html
I read this the other day and loved it! Such a good book.
I really loved this book. I'll be talking more about it on the Ink and Paper special, I hope! It was great to read your review. :)
I really liked this book as well! And I read it a couple of years ago, and wasn't disturbed by the sex. I also liked how Judy Blume's book "Forever..." was featured prominently in it. :)
I heard this book was... sexy. But I didn't know it was in verse!
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