SMART BOYS & FAST GIRLS

Author: Stephie Davis ISBN: 0843953985 9/2005 YOUNG ADULT Publisher: SMOOCH

On Your Mark Natalie Page is overlooked and unappreciated. Yeah, sure, she can run fast. Yeah, sure, all the boys love her...as a buddy. Yeah, she has plans every weekend night...with her friends and their boyfriends. GET SET It's time for the world to sit up and take notice. When Natalie makes the varsity cross country team, it seems like the fast track to being cool. The popular girls notice her, the hunky captain of the boys team is giving her rides home. Natalie Page is off and running. Then she starts to fail geometry. She has to get a tutor: a very annoying boy who thinks sports is for idiots. A very smart boy who thinks she's stupid. A very cute boy who already has a girlfriend and has no interest in her. A boy she told her parents she was dating. GO! Natalie Page can run. Now she has to decide how to finish.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Natalie has always been the girl guys thought of as a great pal. Wanting to finally be noticed as potential girlfriend material, she's ecstatic when the captain of the boys' cross-country team starts flirting with her. But when she starts failing geometry, she must agree to work with a nerdy tutor or lose her place on the team. Battling for acceptance by the other members of her team, she's worried they would make fun of her if they knew she needed a tutor. Thus, she schemes to make everyone think her tutor is her new boyfriend.

Filled with true-to-life instances, SMART BOYS & FAST GIRLS is a great read. I found Natalie a sympathetic character. I especially felt for Natalie when she finds out that her three best friends have been excluding her from get-togethers because she was the one without a boyfriend. Natalie's experiences echo a common occurrence in the life of teens. I found her ability to express her feelings of hurt and disappointment commendable. It may help others in the same position be able to let their friends know how they feel as well.

Ms. Davis has once again hit the mark with a cute, light-hearted story that will be embraced by fans of teen romances. I thoroughly enjoyed reading SMART BOYS & FAST GIRLS and won't hesitate to recommend it. Although, I hate to leave behind Nat, Blue, Allie and Francis, I can't wait to see what Ms. Davis writes about next. I'll be eagerly awaiting more!

Kendra Wheeler