ALA Booklist (Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2005)

As the story begins, without a word being spoken, ninth-grader Charlotte (Charlie) is maneuvered into a French kiss by Kevin Lazarus. New to kissing, Charlie is impressed but foresees nothing but complications. Her best friend, Tess, is Kevin's girlfriend, and Kevin's father is dating Charlie's mother. Charlie keeps the kiss to herself, obsesses about it, and tries to forget it, and then, at a family ski trip (stepsibling status is only months away), Kevin kisses her again. What does it all mean? In Charlie's funny first-person voice (she is much funnier and more knowing than any ninth-grader on the planet), Vail ponders until, frankly, readers may tire of the question. Subplots, such as Charlie's moment (and it's only a moment) as a crusader for freedom of the press, barely make a dent in her Kevin-kiss fixation. There are some very appealing elements here, including the remarriage of a divorced parent. However, the story is at its best when Charlie must grapple with pursuing a crush and staying loyal to a friend--a situation that will resonate with Vail's many fans.

Horn Book

Fourteen-year-old Charlie (Charlotte) has a crush on Kevin, but complications surface when Charlie's best friend Tess starts going out with Kevin. Discovering that her mother and Kevin's father, both divorced, are romantically involved only heightens Charlie's feelings of guilt, anger, and confusion. Nuanced characterization and down-to-earth humor keep the whole entertaining mess from degenerating into soap opera.

Kirkus Reviews

Kisses take on a whole new dimension in this touching and tangled teen drama. High-school freshman Charlotte, "Charlie," doesn't fit in with the sports crowd or the brainy set and she's never been kissed. Although Charlie admits she's "ready to kiss someone," she is startled when the class Romeo, Kevin Lazarus, unexpectedly French kisses her at school, triggering a series of bewildering events. As she sorts through her own feelings for Kevin, Charlie discovers her best friend Tess has also fallen for him. To complicate matters further, Charlie's mother announces she has fallen in love with Kevin's divorced father. With a crush on her best friend's boyfriend—her future stepbrother—Charlie faces one moral dilemma after another, but she does it with humor and a certain charm. A confused Charlie ends up spending her freshman year trying to diagnose what's going on, what she really wants and who's kissing whom. Amazing what one kiss can do. (Fiction. YA)

School Library Journal

Gr 7-9-High school freshman Charlie is ready for her first kiss. The big day arrives when Kevin Lazarus chooses her, taking her by the hand and leading her outside. Charlie, who before the kiss doesn't particularly like him, finds herself both intrigued and grossed out by the germs to which she's been exposed. She is not sure if it really happened and she tells no one, not even her best friend, Tess. Her confusion is further compounded when Tess sets her eyes on Kevin and wins his affections, her mother becomes romantically involved with Kevin's father, and Charlie becomes increasingly more obsessed with the teen. Over Christmas break, she and her mother go on a skiing vacation with the Lazarus family, and Mr. Lazarus and Charlie's mom become engaged. Charlie is once again kissed by Kevin; from here on the plot focuses on Charlie obsessing over kissing Kevin again and her feelings of guilt about her lack of honesty toward her best friend. Unfortunately, other conflicts in the story aren't as fully developed. However, Charlie tells her story in a fresh voice and begins to realize that there is a difference between being obsessed and truly caring about someone. While Charlie and Tess are typical teenagers navigating their way through high school angst, Kevin remains one-dimensional and readers learn little about him besides his habit of kissing girls. A light read for fans of Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's "Alice" series (S & S).-Angela M. Boccuzzi-Reichert, Merton Williams' Middle School, Hilton, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.