Thou Shalt Not Dump the Skater Dude and Other Commandments I Have Broken

Thou Shalt Not Dump the Skater Dude and Other Commandments I Have Broken Rosemary Graham Date: 20 October, 2005   —   $11.55   —   Book product page Rating:

I really enjoyed Rosemary Graham's first book, My Not-So-Terrible Time At The Hippie Hotel and feel very lucky and honored she personally sent me an ARC of what I'm calling the Skater Dude book... long title for blogging.

What's neat about this book is that it's the story of Kelsey, one of the characters in her first book, but it's not a sequel.  It basically is a parallel story written in the same tone and voice as the first.  I think I related more to Tracy but both are fun reads for any teen girl.

In Skater Dude Kelsey basically falls into a relationship with one of the hottest and popular boys at school, The Skater Dude.  After awhile she begins to realize that her life revolves around him but not so vice-versa.  Breaking up is hard to do but even harder when your ex-boyfriend has a popular blog and fan-club following!  Kelsey spends some time at the Hippie Hotel over the summer and when she returns home to California she realizes she's a social pariah... even worse, the boy she really cared about is spreading lies about her.  It's not easy for her but Kelsey goes back to school and tries to get involved in activities, something she couldn't do before as Girlfriend of the Skater Dude.  Of course, there is a happy ending with valuable lessons learned.  My favorite lesson for a teenage girl (and some women I know) would be that a boy (or man) does not define you.  Some of the saddest characters in the books are the girlfriends of other skaters who just seem to have no lives of their own and shun Kelsey upon her return to school.

I would recommend this book to anyone who liked the Hippie Hotel obviously, but also for those girls who like Angus Thongs, Gossip Girls, etc.  It's on the tame side (in terms of sex, profanity, & "issues") but has enough edge to be hip and interesting.  Thank you Rosemary :)

PS You can read the Skater Dude's blog but you might want to check back in when the book is published (Oct) for more juicy bits!
http://www.cjloganland.com/

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