Sunday, April 01, 2007

Second Helpings


McCafferty, Megan. 2003. Second Helpings.

Set almost six months after the conclusion of Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings continues the drama of Jessica Darling and her friends. Still trying to get over the boy, He Who Shall Remain Nameless, she finds herself at SPECIAL camp where the 'goal' is to focus on her writing. It turns out that Jessica felt she hadto destroy the journals from the previous year because they were filled with entries about He Who Shall Remain Nameless. She still thinks about him sometimes, but she tries not to write about him or mention him at all. Soon camp is over and it's time for her senior year to begin. Her senior year is full of ups and downs. She is beginning to learn to tolerate Bridget--one of her 'clueless' friends from the year before. She even begins dating. Her choice? Former nerd, Len, who happens to be one of Marcus Flutie's best friends. Yet even though she's dating someone else. She can't stop thinking about him...and it doesn't help that she keeps bumping into him when she visits her grandmother. She knows she shouldn't waste her time on him...since she thinks she knows what he's really like...but he keeps making these small gestures. Like the fact that he joined Len's band and the band's new name comes from a poem he wrote just for her. It's all in the details, and he proves every time that he knows her even better than she knows herself. How long will she put off the inevitable? Can she truly resist him in the long run? Will Marcus and Jessica ever have a chance to be together?

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