Paisley Hanover Acts Out by Cameron Turtle

Publisher: Dial, Penguin USA
Pub.Date: October 2nd 2008
Age Range: Young Adult
Pages: 432
Format: Hardcover
Source Of Copy: from the publisher - Penguin USA

Paisley, a sophomore at Pleasant Hill High, is horrified when she is transferred out of Yearbook and into Drama, home of the freaks and weirdos. She's already lost her friend Jen to the lure of the überpopular crowd. But those teens are also the bullies of the school, picking on anyone too timid to fight back. As her disillusion with them grows, Paisley makes new, truer friends among the drama set. Still, she struggles with the desire to fit in versus total disgust with the actions of the in-crowd. Writing a column for the school newspaper under the pseudonym "Miss UnPleasant," she makes radical statements praising unpopularity and gets the entire student body talking, making Un the "it" thing to be. Paisley's struggle with the social hierarchy of high school will strike a cord with every teen, popular or Un. Tuttle's writing is quirky and witty, full of fabulous language and phrasings and spot-on with today's teen vernacular.


Quirky, unusual and super fun, Paisley Hanover Acts Out is the first book of a promising series about a popular girl who decides to fight for the unpops. Tired of naive innocent unpopular female lead? This book will give you a different flavor.

Paisley Hanover Acts Out looks pretty crazy and unique on the cover, which portrays the story perfectly. The plot is not typical though can be found in some previous books - a pop got abandoned by her community and turns to the crown she's never joined before, surprised to feel more belonged than ever.

The narration is super funny. Paisley doesn't act like a pop. She's totally crazy and unpredictable and do/say things that are very unexpected. She's just a normal teenager who has her own crush, who wants to do great things and cannot stand to see the evils take over the school. I love how she slowly gets involved with the unpops - who I think are just as awesome as she is. They're different with distinguishable characters that you might not even find in the so beautiful pops.

The story is very well-planned. Although it seems that Paisley gets herself into a lot of messes, the author does a great job of untangle everything, and in an exciting, fun way as well. You can never tell what's going to happen next. The writing is very witty but feels close, not unfamiliar.

The ending of the book does not answer every question because there's another installment coming up but it's enough to satisfy me. Go read and see which male lead you root for. It's gonna be a hot issue in the next book.

Rating: 4/5