The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life [Hardcover]

Oyster Point High School has a tradition. During senior week, there is an unofficial scavenger hunt. Parents, cops, and other authority figures try to shut it down. Naturally, the winning team gets everlasting glory. (Or, at least glory until a new team wins the Yeti the next year.)

Mary is determined to win since she didn't get into Georgetown and football player Barbone did. She wants to show someone up for once. She's got a team of also-rans with her: Winter, her best friend; Patrick, her guy best friend; and Dez, who is obviously gay and takes a lot of crap because of it. Meanwhile, she'd like to hook up with Carson who is about to break up with Jill, but another girl might have already caught his attention. And Patrick likes her that way, as she just found out at prom.

The first chapter or so of THE BEST NIGHT OF YOUR (PATHETIC) LIFE is hard to parse. There are a lot of characters, motivations, and scavenger hunt items to get straight in your head. But pretty soon it's a fast ride to long-lasting memories, questionable morals, and the definition of first world problems. I like how Mary's perception of herself changes throughout the story. She thinks she's invisible at the beginning. But it turns out she's been leaving an impression all along - and that sometimes it was a bad one.

I did not like that people kept pressuring her to give Patrick a chance, but it was very realistic. I had the same thing happen to a friend in high school. But Mary manages pretty well, in my opinion. She may not be the most in tune with herself, but she's got some things figured out.

The characterization is better than your average high school comedy movie. The jerk jock has his reasons for not liking Mary. Each of the scavenger hunt members gets a chance to shine and express their point of view. Even one of the scavenger hunt organizers gets some personality. It adds depth to the standard plot.

I bring up movies because THE BEST NIGHT OF YOUR (PATHETIC) LIFE reminded me more of a movie version of high school than actual high school. It works since Tara Altebrando's novel is basically the literary version of a movie. It's that one crazy night where anything can happen, even the nerds ending up on top.

With the impressive skill she's displayed in her previous novels, Tara Altebrando returns with a fast-paced story that's by turns hilarious, poignant, suspenseful, surprising, and tender. The dialogue is crisp and credible, characters are beautifully developed, and the plot keeps us moving forward briskly and enjoyably. Above all, Altebrando deftly taps into the full spectrum of emotions that high school seniors feel as they teeter on the brink of adulthood.

High school. It's the best of times. It's the worst of times. At least that's how Mary and her group of misfit friends - Patrick, Dez, and Winter - viewed it these past four years.

Now just a week shy of graduation, Mary's ready to put aside all the Model United Nations meets, the after school band practices, and one very embarrassing moment at prom, for one night of unadulterated night of high school hijinks.

The senior scavenger hunt is Mary's chance to, not only drive around Oyster Point aimlessly and collect the most random objects (from a dixie cup icosahedron to a fettling knife), but to prove herself.

And Mary has A LOT to prove. To her friends she wants to prove that the senior scavenger hunt is more than a silly game, it's a rite of passage. To her classmate and resident bully Jake Barbone, who got accepted to Georgetown over Mary, she wants to prove that she isn't a loser. And to herself, she wants to prove that she has guts, that she's more than her high school reputation, or lack thereof.

But when the scavenger hunt and emotions spin wildly out of control, Mary is forced to not just play the game, but to face realities that she's trying desperately to avoid. Will she survive, or will the hunt, the antics, and the emotions get the best of her?

The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life, written but author Tara Altebrando, is a whirlwind book that takes readers on a twenty-four hour journey packed with action and adventure.

The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life may be short, but it certainly does not lack. Clocking in at only two hundred and thirty-nine pages, readers will find plenty of laugh out loud moments, plenty to reminisce about, and writing that packs a real punch.

Altrebrando's writing isn't only strong, it's spectacular. She has a knack for luring readers into her plot. The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life is an engrossing story that is chock full of characters that are both memorable and authentic. Mary and her team of misfits are characters that are multidemensional.

Readers will identify easily with all of Altebrando's well crafted characters. Readers will find themselves sympathizing with and rooting for Mary and her band of outcast friends. Beyond that, they will be able to see a little bit of themselves hidden deep within Altebrando's realistic characters.

As an adult reader, what I really loved most about Altebrando's latest book is all the emotions that are tied to and stirred up by it. There were moments that I longed for my high school days, and others that had me wishing my own high school experience including a twenty-four hour scavenger hunt.

Altebrando's The Best Night of Your (Pathetic) Life is the kind of book that readers will not be able to walk away from. It's a really great read that will keep readers laughing, loudly, and will satisfy any readers tastes.