The Boy Problem: Notes and Predictions of Tabitha Reddy - Hardcover

Kinard, Kami

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0545575869 ISBN 13: 9780545575867

Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2014

Synopsis

This companion novel to THE BOY PROJECT is the perfect "next step" for fans of DORK DIARIES.

Tabitha "Tabbi" Reddy believes in signs. Like fortune cookies. Magic 8-Balls. Shooting stars. And this year, she hopes, looking for the right signs will lead her to the right boy! Inspired by her BFF, Kara (star of THE BOY PROJECT), Tabbi starts her own "project" in the hopes of finding a cute crush. With the help of a math lesson on probability, Tabbi tries to predict who the right boy for her might be! Where is she most likely to meet him? What is he most likely to look like? Full of fun illustrations, hilarious equations, and lessons in cupcake-baking, life, love, and friendship, this book has a 100% probability of awesomeness. A perfect "next step" for fans of DORK DIARIES.

About this title

About the Author

Kami Kinard enjoys writing about the boyfriend quest more than she enjoyed experiencing it. A teaching artist on the SC Arts Commission's Roster of Approved Artists, she writes from Beaufort, South Carolina, where she lives with her husband and two children. Please visit her online at: www.kamikinard.com.

Reviews

Gr 6–10—Tabitha Reddy has been unlucky in love as of late, but her belief in the power of prediction means that she's starting to see signs that things are looking up. Once she's assigned a probability project, she sees the perfect opportunity to use math as a means to predict her romantic future. The Boy Problem feels like several books at once—one about life as a seventh grader, one about a budding cupcake business, and another about a girl hunting for a boyfriend. The concept of a young teenager using a math instead of guesswork as a way to predict the future is an interesting one, but the convenient solutions to problems and lack of character development weaken the book as a whole. The stakes are raised as the story progresses and the plotline about the cupcake business is interesting, but it gets drowned out by the melodrama. The diary format and light material may appeal to struggling readers, but it is not a necessary purchase.—Erinn Black Salge, Saint Peter's Prep, Jersey City, NJ

Full of asides about classmates and the kind of detailed gossip only 11 to 13-year-olds can truly follow, this giddy, giggly book reads like a diary and is aimed at tween girls who like their literature frothy. Tabbi, short for Tabitha, is a middle-school student looking for the right guy, a crush who will elevate her status and help her put aside the feeling that she is just a third wheel when she hangs out with her bestie Kara and Kara’s boyfriend, Chip. But how is she going to find the guy of her dreams? Tabbi is sure that everything, from the cheese that slid off her pizza and formed the shape of a male face (well, kind of) to a Magic 8 Ball, will predict her future. Stick-figure drawings, charts, and lists break up the text and give Tabbi’s story a Diary of a Wimpy Kid vibe. When a fund-raiser featuring cupcakes leads Tabbi to a happy ending, those who love romance will celebrate. Grades 4-8. --Karen Cruze

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From THE BOY PREDICTION:Most people don't think it's possible to predict the future. I'm one of the exceptions.I believe in signs--little clues that hint at things that might happen someday. You just have to be open to seeing them.My BFF, Kara McAllister, doesn't think like I do. She's what you'd call a cynic. I mean, a sign can be right in front of her face, pointing her down the road to future events, but she'd rather figure out a way to explain why it isn't a sign at all than go ahead and believe that it is one.Earlier tonight a VERY OBVIOUS sign landed right under my nose. Literally. I know that it means something FANTASTIC is going to happen to me this year! But did Kara interpret it the way I did? Well . . . I'm not exactly sure.We'd gone to Triple Slice Pizza with Kara's boyfriend, Chip, to celebrate the last Friday before the start of the new school year. Kara and Chip sat on one side of the booth. I sat on the other. Alone.So even though they PROMISED that I wasn't one, I pretty much felt like a third wheel before we even placed our order. You don't have to be a math genius (and trust me, I'm not) to figure out these two equations: 2 + 1 = Third Wheel3 - 1 = DateDUH!"You're NOT a third wheel," said Kara, who was holding hands with Chip under the table."Yes, I am," I said. "And it looks like I'm going to be one forever. I'll never find the right guy!" Anyway, I was about to put the pizza down on the table when Kara looked over my shoulder and said, "Hey, an absolutely adorable guy just walked in who totally looks like a third wheel! Let's invite him to sit with you!"I looked over my shoulder. I shouldn't have.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0545575869
• ISBN 13: 9780545575867
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272