A Match Made in High School

A Match Made in High School by Kristin Walker

Razorbill, 2009

278 pages

YA; Contemporary

Summary: Fiona's high school has made a marriage ed class mandatory for graduation! Will she be paired with her hot crush Gabe? No, instead it's jerk Todd Harding while his girlfriend Amanda is paired with Gabe. Then her best/only friend Marcie is paired with Johnny Mercer, who may or may not like Fiona. Can they make it through the year?

Why I Read: I saw good reviews and won a swag pack for it.

My Thoughts: I really liked the characters, even when they were infuriating. Every character pretty much had at least a mini story which we got to follow and deepen our understanding of them. Fiona and Todd had such fun banter (to read); it's how I wish I could be. In some ways books give me unrealistic expectations because almost always people have fantastic comebacks whereas in real life I pretty much never have a comeback :-(

I also loved Fi's relationship with her sitting charge Sam who provides an important lesson to Fi regarding friendship when her friend Marcie is an absolutely crappy friend (I'm not saying Fi was always a great friend but you just don't do that; Marcie was a way worse friend-can't say why, too spoilerly). It was just a funny book and a VERY quick read.

I do think it's dumb for a school to institute a yearlong, mandatory for graduation course without having tested it first so the whole concept is shaky to me but it's so much fun that I didn't mind plus Fiona's mom challenges it.

Reader Warning: I thought there was a lot of swearing; I'm not saying that's not accurate for high school (because in my experience it is) but I didn't like it much.

Overall: 4.5 out of 5. Slightly disappointed in language and Marcie but highly recommended!

Cover: Cute-I love the different faces and expressions describing the high school experience.