School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Samantha has bombed her SATs, and her prospects for college are looking dim. What can she do to redeem herself in the eyes of college admissions? Head cheerleader isn't exactly awe inspiring, so she decides that politics is her salvation, and she begins her campaign for student body president with the help and support of her fellow cheerleaders. Branching out of her clique to enlist others to help leads to a bet with Logan, her eighth-grade boyfriend, that she cannot go two weeks without insulting someone. In the process, Samantha makes new friends, loses old ones, dates a hunk from her past, and learns something about character. Readers who find comfort in a familiar plot will be drawn to this book because the standard "hate him, love him" device finds form in the romances here. The characters are all familiar as well, so there are no surprises. Teens who are looking for a predictable, comfortable love story will be most taken with this novel.-Lynn Evarts, Sauk Prairie High School, Prairie du Sac, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Rallison's (Playing the Field) breezy comedy is narrated by Samantha, a popular, self-absorbed head cheerleader who, after receiving abysmal SAT scores, decides that her resum? needs some beefing up if she is going to get into a decent college. When she asks Logan, a fellow junior and her one-time boyfriend, for his help running for student body president, he scoffs-"To campaign, you have to talk to people outside your clique," he tell her. "You can't walk into a room of six people without insulting five of them." Samantha accepts his challenge to avoid insulting anyone for a full week (which is then extended to two weeks), a bet that paves the way for a host of humorous exchanges and near slip-ups. While struggling to hold her tongue and coping with campaign trauma (someone distributes flyers divulging her SAT scores), Samantha must also land a last-minute date for the prom after her current beau dumps her. Though readers will have few doubts about where Samantha and Logan's coy cat-and-mouse game will lead, they will follow along contentedly enough, as appealing characters and snappy dialogue give this light fare a satisfying bite. Ages 12-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved