Three’s a Crowd

Amanda just wants a chance to charm the new hot guy Drew.  Is that really too much to ask?  Apparently so, because the world keeps on conspiring against her -  the world being her younger brother Brett (aka Brat) and her new childish, infuriating neighbor Jeebie, who has a crush on her.  Not to mention that her best friends have also set their eyes on the yummy, rich, stylish, Drew.  Really, can anyone be more unlucky?  Following Amanda’s life for a few days might be better named, “Amanda’s Apocalypse of Embarrassment” as everyone obviously conspires to destroy her life.  Or are they?  One thing’s for sure,  Amanda will learn a whole lot about herself in the last hot days of the summer.
What an original, laugh out loud funny book!  Brat and his exploits are hilarious. Honestly, he was the best part of the book. Example:
“We all reckoned that when he grew up he was going to run the Mafia or something. He was the nearest thing to a ten-year-old gangster any of us had seen, and I was stuck with him.”  Jeebie was also very interesting. Unfortunately Amanda doesn’t deserve the same title. She was more of a brat than her brother, it seems. She acted selfishly and immaturely, and even though that was the point (her being the typical teenager), it was too extreme and became very irritating after a while. The ending was also strange. The book felt oddly cut off, as if there’s a chapter or two still waiting to be written. Still, the story is original, the characters unique and the whole package likely to put a smile on your face!

Mimi Smith