Perfect Chemistryby Simone Elkeles
Syndetic Solutions - [Book Review for 9780802798220] Book Review : School Library Journal
:
Gr 10 Up—Told in alternating narratives, Perfect Chemistry portrays a romance between two unlikely lab partners. Brittany is her Chicago high school's "golden girl" but few of her friends know that her parents are totally dysfunctional and that she is highly invested in caring for her physically and mentally disabled older sister. Alex is a member of the Latino Blood, but he wishes he could leave gang life and pursue a college career. The plot thickens as Alex accepts a bet from a friend that he cannot bed Brittany by Thanksgiving. Smoldering doesn't quite do justice to the romantic banter that sparks between them. As the story unfolds, Alex is incarcerated and later hospitalized. Raw language and Spanish phrases that Anglo readers might feel obligated to investigate further are peppered throughout. The pace picks up too quickly at the end, leaving readers wondering if they missed something as time that has previously been marked day by day begins to clip along in five-month increments. Overall though, this is a solid romance that's suitable for reluctant readers.—Leah Krippner, Harlem High School, Machesney Park, IL Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
| distributed by Syndetic Solutions, LLC.: |
Syndetic Solutions - [Book Review for 0802798225] Book Review : BookList
: From BookList, November 15, 2008, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission. : Tough guy Alex is primarily known by his classmates as a dangerous member of the Latino Bloods gang. He's not exactly thrilled when Brittany Ellis, the school's seemingly perfect beauty queen, is assigned as his lab partner-and the feeling is more than mutual. But Alex's bravado works against him when he impulsively accepts a bet that he can get Brittany in the sack. The romance that follows will not surprise any reader, yet Elkeles gives it heart by constantly switching point of view from Alex to Brittany to provide dual running commentaries on their minute-by-minute insecurities and urges. Brittany's controlling parents and sister with cerebral palsy are well drawn, but it is Elkeles' rendition of Alex and his life that is particularly vivid. Sprinkling his speech with Spanish, his gruff but tender interactions with his family and friends feel completely genuine. An idealized epilogue drains away some of the book's realism, but if the "romance" angle isn't pushed too hard, this is a novel that could be embraced by male and female readers in equal measure. Kraus, Daniel. : | distributed by Syndetic Solutions, LLC.: |
|
