As you may recall, I reviewed Melissa Kantor’s The Breakup Bible for my first book review for Barrie Summy’s “The Book Review Club.” I loved this book so much I had to get Melissa Kantor’s next book Girlfriend Material. Here’s the blurb, courtesy of amazon.com:
If Kate were Lady Brett Ashley, the devastating heroine of Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, she’d spend her summers careering around the Riviera in her coupe, breaking hearts by the dozen–because why not? In reality, Kate’s never even had a boyfriend, and she’ll be spending the summer abetting her mom’s lame ploy to make her dad jealous: running off to Cape Cod and crashing at the seaside home of her wealthy friends, the Cooper-Melnicks. To add to the shame, the Cooper-Melnicks’ gorgeous daughter Sarah is a bit like Lady Brett, and she seems less than thrilled to hang out with her new houseguest. Any dreams Kate once had of a perfect summer are ruined.
That is, until Sarah’s cute, witty friend Adam starts drawing Kate into the fold–and seems intrigued. With Adam around, Kate feels like she just might have a bit of heartbreaker potential after all. But when a breezy summer romance quickly grows more complicated can Kate keep pretending her relationship with Adam is just a carefree fling? Or will she take the risk and tell him her real feelings? Suddenly Kate is asking herself a question she never thought she’d stoop to: Is she girlfriend material?
As usual, Melissa Kantor captures teen-age anst in such a way that I, as an adult, can totally relate. So much so, it’s almost painful to relieve some of those feelings – of having to answer to parents, of not being in control of your own life – as much as any adult is in control of their life, that is, being hung up on a guy who seems too smooth to be true, and forced to be with a peer who treats you as if you’re not quite good enough.
Location in a book is very important to me, so, naturally, as a beach lover, I enjoyed the Cape Cod setting, and was so happy the book had little to do with the character’s home town in Utah. 
Melissa Kantor, being a high school English teacher, must have more inside information than I do regarding what teens are doing today, but I do question some of the insights that a teen is supposed to have. I hate to say anything negative, but in some young adult books I’ve read, and this one included, it feels a bit too much like author intrusion, imparting the author’s life experience into the life of the teen character. But, then, it could just be me.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book and Melissa Kantor is a master at weaving plot elements together for the perfect ending to a book.
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@Barrie Summy
Great review! This is on my TBR list.
I agree with you. I do think being a teacher gives Melissa insider info.
When, I coach or help out with softball and/or teach, I come home with a ton of ideas and lingo. 
By: Keri Mikulski on 06/03/2009
at 3:52 am
This book is so cute. I really want to read it.
By: Thao on 06/03/2009
at 7:02 am
Very good review, Kathy. I think I’d like to try feeling teen angst, when I can set the book down to turn off the angst.
By: Barrie Summy on 06/03/2009
at 8:28 am
I’m so glad to learn about this author. I’m always looking for YA fiction for my teenage daughter, and this sounds like something that would really appeal to her. (We’ve spent several summers at Cape Cod, and I know she would get a kick out of recognizing the setting.)
Also: I’m with Barrie on the teen angst!
By: Bee on 06/03/2009
at 9:55 am
Keri – I eavesdrop on teens when I’m in Disneyland – I need to go more often.
And LOL on the teen angst – does it seem better to be the teen rather than the mother of a teen?
By: Kathy on 06/03/2009
at 10:06 am
This one is going on my to read list after your review and several other reviews on other blogs. I love the Cape Cod area and first romances are sweet. Nice review!
By: Sarah Laurence on 06/03/2009
at 10:47 am
I’m always in awe of adult authors who can write so convincingly of what it’s like to be a child. I read along thinking, “Yes! That’s exactly right! I’d forgotten about that feeling!”
One of my favorite review lines ever was from the New York Times Review of Books write-up about Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep: “Sittenfeld’s dialogue is so convincing that one wonders if she didn’t wear a wire under her hockey kilt.”
By: Sarahlynn on 06/03/2009
at 9:21 pm
I enjoy reading young adult stories, and a little romance is always nice. thanks for the tip. nice review.
By: kaye on 06/05/2009
at 8:46 am