Jessica Darling's It List: The (Totally Not) Guaranteed Guide to Popularity, Prettiness & Perfection

Product Information

Read more about the condition New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages. In this story, Jessica is on the brink of junior high school, confronted with finding her values and her place in that emotionally charged, preadolescent community. Right after they finish their routine Jessica goes next (its funny because she has no flexibility skills or anything like that). I don’t know a girl in the world who won’t identify with Jessica and her attempts to navigate friendships – it’s that real. If you know a young reader entering middle school, think about how fun it will be to get her started on Jessica Darling now and gradually introduce her to the other books as she grows older.

And I wasn't expecting anything of Sloppy Firsts or Second Helpings calibre, I was happy with what it was. If Jessica was a little bit more confident (like her sister) in the beginning of the book I feel like she would've been more popular. Funny, winning, and completely relatable, she makes for delightful company as she navigates her way through a new school, and it's impossible not to root for her through all her misadventures. The worst part about the nastiness Manda and Sara and Dori and Bridget were spreading about each other? After all Jess makes cheer team but not as it seems, makes friends and loses them in some ways and learns of growing apart as well as having enough best friend boyfriend drama to do without boy drama of her own!This book takes you back to the seventh grade year of Jessica Darling and introduces you to all of the major players in the original series. On April 24, 2006, Little, Brown issued a statement from Viswanathan in which the author admitted to reading McCafferty's novels but stated that any similarities between them and her own work were "completely unintentional and unconscious. Twelve-year old Jessica is pretty self-aware, but she's also way more optimistic, accepting, and loving of her family than her sixteen-year old self. Megan McCafferty is the New York Times bestselling author of the Jessica Darling series, Bumped, and Thumped.

There is some focus on liking boys and what not but it doesn’t take over Jessica’s life which I really love.However, her best friend Bridget soon becomes everything the list needs, getting on cheer team, bagging a boyfriend and fitting straight in while Jessica realises that maybe being herself is best? Jessica's not really interested in clothes; she's certainly not interested in boys, doesn't even know who's in the "in clique," and has never done a "cheer" in her life. Plus, she’s kind of stuck in the middle, as smarties and skaters unite to collect signatures on a petition to bring back the school’s annual dance. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the humor was still there and that in such a short book McCafferty was able to portray junior high life extremely well.

The book was marketed as a "prequel" to the five earlier Jessica Darling books (such as Second Helpings), which took its young heroine through high school and college and was directed at teens. So, for all the parents and teachers out there – what have the young readers you know thought of this book? But I suspect the MAIN reason why this happens is McCafferty is trying to reach out to a new generation, and these novels would in theory be set in the mid-to-late 90s when these kids weren’t even born yet.

I don't expect to be running off to the middle grade section, but I will definitely be throwing in a few MG books now and then. I was rooting for her as she had snarky thoughts about all the girls I would have hated at that age. Despite being given very bad advice, Jessica discovers that being true to her own values is the best path to follow. What’s beautiful about this book is that Jessica’s trademark independence and persistence emerge during one of the most trying times in the formation of a person’s identity: the beginning of junior high.