Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters [Hardcover]

Some are born popular, some achieve popularity, and others (like Kelsey Finkelstein) intend to thrust themselves into popularity in their freshman year of high school. Or, at least, that was the plan.

`Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters' is the debut young adult novel by Meredith Zeitlin.

Sometimes I think I might be getting a little too old for certain YA books... I don't get `Bieber fever', I have no intentions of listening to `One Direction' and I have started asking sales assistants to "please turn the music down just a smidge?" in clothes shops. Then a book comes along that reminds me I can still be young at heart, and live vicariously (and happily) through a character and be transported back to a time when high school was the be all and end all. `Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters' is just such a book, and Kelsey Finkelstein is just such a protagonist.

When the book opens, things are looking up for Kelsey. She has grand plans and high hopes - her arch nemesis has moved away, she's going to be the star of her school soccer team and resident boy-crush, Jordan, is in her sights. High school, Kelsey is sure, is going to be the turning point in her life...

And then it all goes horribly wrong, naturally... Kelsey is betrayed by one of her best friends. She's cast as a bearded fat man in her school play and she lost an arch nemesis, only to gain a new one in high school. So much for grand plans and high hopes.

Zeitlin's book is a frolicking joy ride through the pitfalls of high school, but it's also a book to prompt reminiscence. Kelsey's story is a page-turner, mostly because her bumbling ways will hark you back to your own high school days... back then crushes seemed like true love, best friend betrayals felt like the end of the world and being a social outcast was like being exiled to Siberia. For those of us who are not American, `freshman year' is equivalent to ninth grade in high school - while reading Zeitlin's book I did find myself getting caught up in the minutiae of school politics and battlegrounds. That vicarious empathy is, in large part, thanks to Kelsey's incredible narrative voice - she's so charismatic and naïve, sometimes painfully innocent and absurdly optimistic that you do find yourself cheering her on throughout the book.

The characters in this book are to-die-for awesome. Kelsey's besties are Em, Cass & JoJo and they're a laugh riot together. And then there was Kelsey's uber-embarassing family to cap off the hilarity. But my favourite character was Ben - the nice guy who shares many a witty repartee with Kelsey.

`Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters' is a squirm-inducing, chortle-fest of loveliness. This is just one of those great books that has a little something for everyone. Younger readers will find a hilarious comrade in Kelsey Finkelstein, as she navigates the murky waters of high school. Older readers will enjoy a cringe-worthy reminiscence to their own high school days, and fondly read Kelsey bumbling along her way to discovering what really matters in life.

I'm not one to read contemporary young adult fiction. It's not my thing. However, the title caught my eye. It made me think of my own disastrous freshman year of high school and so I had to read it. I must say that it was way more fun to read than I thought it would be. I was laughing like crazy, earning some weird looks from my mom early this morning.

I read the book in one sitting, a testament to just how much I liked it. The main character, Kelsey, was so funny! I loved reading about her life, her friends, her parents, and all the crazy things that happened to her. When I was reading, I kept thinking back to when I was 14 (some 7 years ago) and I just loved how genuine the story was. I was impressed with the amount of knowledge that the author had about 14 year olds. There were so many things that I didn't even remember young teens do and the things they deal with.

It was truly a joy reading about Kelsey's boy troubles and the minor things that her mom did that seemed to cause blown out one-sided arguments. I loved it all. I'm so glad that I decided to read this book. If you are in high school, you will love this book. It's so easy to relate to it. If you're way past high school age, it's still awesome and it will remind you of your own high school years. It was great and I'm so glad I read it.

This is one of those rare, effortlessly silly, feel-good books. I giggled throughout the whole thing and by the time I was finished reading this book, I had such a happy smile on my face!

Kelsey Finkelstein is one funny, real, honest character. I liked her spunk, that mouth of hers that always managed to get her into trouble, the attitude that is only found in 14-year-olds, and of course her stream of bad luck that caused one hilarious incident after another. Everything about her was just so believable! Kelsey is one of those characters that many will be able to relate to whether it is the fact that she is trying to find her own place in high school, the fact that things just don't seem to want to go her way, or that she has three great best friends that are there for her. Just trust me when I say you will have something in common with this girl!

When my best friend asked me what this book was about, I simply replied "It reminded me of freshman year." At the time she laughed at my response but I honestly couldn't think of a better way to describe it. Kelsey goes through all these changes and stresses that come with high school and nothing is easy for her. Whether it is an upperclassman that has it out for her or a mystery man whose purpose is to humiliate her with random pictures in the newspaper, she handles it all so, while maybe not well, at least with a grand amount of humor. The book included all those awkward, unsure moments that I had during my freshman year. There were more serious things like what one of her closest friends is going through to the sillier stuff like trying to make it as goalie through every soccer game. I might not have experienced what Kelsey was going through specifically but I could definitely remember similar instances where I was feeling close to the same thing.

There were so many times throughout the book where I thought Meredith must have researched my diary I kept in 9th grade. She wrote every feeling I ever felt in high school from the moments of pure humiliation (yes my dad would find various reasons to show up while dressed like a cowboy going to the gym, in front of all my friends), the moments of pure greatness (going out for the track team even though I knew no one), or even the moments of friendship (friends being there for you regardless of how crazy you are acting). Kelsey had moments like this throughout the whole book where I would continually think "I remember that one time my dad..." or "I remember when my best friend..." This book did such a great job harboring all those feelings I had throughout high school.

Kelsey is not the only great character in this book. Her parents are present throughout the whole thing and they were perfect in a totally humiliating-that's-what-parents-are-made-for type of way. I loved that Meredith wrote in parents that are there, in their child's life, and they sincerely care about the decisions that Kelsey makes. It is far too often in YA books when the parents just aren't there so it was good to see something different.

Kelsey's best friends are GREAT! They are all so unique but they have one thing in common and that's that they care about Kelsey so much! Whenever they were all together, I just knew something funny, sweet, or just all-around amusing would happen. Their personalities were all so different and they had varied interests but they worked well together in this story much how true best friends are in real life.

I think my favorite characteristic about this book is just how good-natured it is. Kelsey may get herself into trouble a few times but she is truly a great kid just trying to find her own niche in high school while surviving through all the embarrassing moments. Her friends are there for her and she is there for them and regardless of how mortifying her parents can be there is a lot of love there. Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters is a sweet, light, funny book that will remind you of all those great and maybe not-so-great-but-still-memorable moments you encountered in high school!