Girlfriend Material by Melissa Kantor
Release Date: May 5, 2009
Publisher: Hyperion
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 272
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?
Girlfriend Material is a quick, cute, summer read! It would be excellent to throw in your bag for a day at the beach.
While initially I was expecting quite a bit a fluff, perhaps a summer fling romance, there were some deeper elements at play in this novel. It’s more about Kate discovering what type of girl she is, not so much “girlfriend.” Deeper element number 1) finding your place when your parents are having problems. Number 2) sibling jealousy, overcoming the closeness you feel one sibling has with a parent and opening yourself up. Number 3) realizing besides being parents, they are also human. Number 4) don’t be quick to judge.
And then on top of all that we have this budding relationship between Kate and Adam. It plays out nicely in the beginning stages of the relationship, has a rocky spot in the middle, but instead of progressing steadily as it did in the early stages, there is a race to the finish, that made it just a tad bit to unbelievable for me, even if it’s only fiction.
The writing was fun, and enjoyable. The story flowed nicely, but as I said above, the ending was rushed. The characters were realistic, and relatable, each one adding their own element to the story line. Definitely reading material..