Copyright Date:
2021
Edition Date:
2021
Release Date:
05/04/21
Pages:
291 pages
ISBN:
1-368-06238-5
ISBN 13:
978-1-368-06238-1
Dewey:
Fic
LCCN:
2021930713
Dimensions:
22 cm.
Language:
English
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews
Senior week isn't all fun and games if you're in danger of not graduating at all.Ask anyone and they'll tell you Olivia Perkins has got it all. She's class salutatorian and an accomplished AP student; she's bagged an acceptance at Louisiana State University and has her majors and future career in international tax law planned to the last detail. So when she learns, shortly before the end of the school year, that she failed her off-campus golf PE class and is at risk of not being allowed to graduate, her entire world shatters. With her future and reputation at stake, Olivia, alongside her small circle of co-conspiring cousins and friends, must find a way to make up her PE hours without tipping off everyone in her highly involved extended Italian American family-while also putting in appearances at the graduation parties filling her week and navigating the shoals of nascent romance as she falls for Leo Perez, the son of old family friends who is possibly cued as Latinx by his name. This dramedy of errors putts along with a great deal of humor and heart. Elston beautifully depicts the warm, in-each-others'-pockets family atmosphere and creates for the cousins a refreshingly believable friendship. Overarching themes of integrity and the dangers of miscommunication avoid becoming heavy-handed.Charming. (Fiction. 12-18)
School Library Journal
(Sat May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2021)
Gr 7 Up-High school senior Olivia lives in Shreveport, LA with her huge Italian American family. She's not graduating as valedictorian, but she's more than proud to be runner-up as salutatorian. Before she can head off to Louisiana State University for an accounting and political science double major, though, she needs to graduatewhich may be an issue because she didn't fulfill her gym credits. To save her standing as salutatorian (and avoid the judgment of her cohort of aunts, uncles, and cousins) she has to skip Senior Party Week and volunteer at the town's big golf tournament. While she's setting precarious golf ball pyramids, her cousins are standing in as Olivia at parties so no one can find out her secret. Elston's prose is clean and easy to digest, making this a speedy read for teens. While the premise is highly improbable and the characters follow teen rom-com tropes, this book delivers a fun romp with lovable characters (or characters that are enjoyable to hate). This is a book meant purely for the joy of the story. VERDICT Fans of Maurene Goo and Becky Albertalli will enjoy this fun, fluffy read. Alexandra Remy, Windsor P.L., CT
It's Senior Party Week, that magical in-between time after classes have ended but before graduation, chock-full of gimmicky theme parties, last-minute bonding, and family traditions. Olivia couldn't be more ready. Class salutatorian and confident in her future at LSU, she's poised to sail through to the next phase of her life.
But when the tiny hiccup of an unsigned P.E. form puts Olivia in danger of not graduating at all, she has one week to set things straight without tipping off her big, nosy extended family. Volunteering at a local golf tournament should do it, but since Olivia's mom equipped her phone with a tracking app, there'll be no hiding the fact that she's at the golf course instead of all the graduation parties happening at the same time. Unless, that is, she can convince the Fab Fourher ride-or-die cousins and best friends Sophie, Charlie, and Westo trade phones with her and go through the motions of playing Olivia for the week.
Sure, Olivia's sudden "passion" for golf is met with some suspicion. And sure, her grasp of the rules is a little shaky. And yes, okay, a very cute, very off-limits boy keeps popping up in her orbit. But she is focused! She has a schedule and a plan! Nothing can possibly go wrong . . . right?