I Am So Jinxed
Naomi Nash
Smooch, Feb 2006, $5.99
ISBN: 0843954051

Fillmore High School student, slick chick Vick is dating hot Gio Carson, but has a new problem to deal with. Last year she was the queen of freaks, but for some weird reason only teens could understand, the in-crowd and other groups want her to join them. Miss congeniality is not her strong suit, so popularity be damned if Vick is quick to want to return to freak status, except that would mean no Gio. Still she figures she could cope if Vice Principal Oostergard would chill and leave her alone instead of nagging her, so that she could go back to coasting.

New trouble arises when Vick thinks Gio is seeing other girls. She, in turn, meets a new hunk Tyler, while her dad is acting weird. Vick knows that she must pull some rabbits out of the hat if she is to get things back to normal, whatever that is when you live in a jinxed world.

This superb teenage character study grips the audience because Vick (not Vickie) seems real with her troubles at school, on the street, and at home threatening to overwhelm her. The support cast brings out the best and the worst in Vick, as she struggles to gain some equilibrium while her popularity soars amidst her peers, but also causes her woes with adults and her boyfriend. Yong adult readers will fully enjoy this deep look at a high school student who just wants to coast, not get involved, but when you're jinxed you are the center of involvement. Ferris move over.