Naomi ♥ Ely.
And she's kinda in
love with him.
love with him.
Ely ♥ Naomi.
But he prefers to be in love
with boys.
Naomi and Ely have been best friends for like- forever! In order to protect their friendship they created a No Kiss List which lists people neither of them are allowed to kiss. But, when Ely kisses Naomi's boyfriend, Bruce the Second (who incidentally, Naomi doesn't really like that much) everything that was changes. They stop talking to each other which begins a downward spiral of their friendship and their lives around them. Can these best friends work things out? Can they ever get back together again?with boys.
Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List is both a funny and entertaining novel written together by authors Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. I found it to be very well written and interesting as the authors tell the story by switching between alternating view points of both the main characters, Naomi and Ely as well as several minor characters.
Themes of friendship, love, sexual identity and exploration are explored throughout this novel. Along with a diverse group of characters and references to both music and pop culture, will make this novel easy for YA's to connect too. Some may find the subject matter and use of strong language inappropriate for younger students. I would recommend this book for high school level and up.
9 comments:
I love the fact that YAL is really starting to showcase real issues that they face. Sexual identity is still a very taboo topic in our culture, especially with YA's. It's refreshing that adults are finally getting that these issues are not going away and they need to be addressed. Well done.
Not only the novel is well written but also your review!
I like especially your hook and your decision about what you give away and what you don't tell.
Thanks for your comments! Yes sexual identity really is important to address which I am learning. My sister in laws 17 year old son is going through some major changes and I am suspecting he may be gay but unfortunately doesn't feel he can share it with his family. It's very sad actually. But c'est la vie.
Cindy, I liked your opening where you describe the friendship in true young adult language "like-forever!" I think to get kids interested in a book you have bring it to their level. You definitely made it sound like a fun book to me and I haven't been a teen in a long time! Also I would like to read this just to see how the writing works with two authors.
This book made me think of guidelines I have shared with my daughter. Some friendships are worth keeping so it is wise to have standards in place for yourself.
When I read it I recalled the Osmonds' interview with Oprah when Donny said his wife was actually someone his brother had on a date, but they were the ones to actually bond. I'm not sure if that was a first date so it didn't matter.
I think this would be a great book for teens, especially because this is something that they could face in reality. As progressive as we all want to seem, if my best friend told me she loved me, "that way" I think that it would be difficult to deal with. Even more so because losing a friendship over it would eventually lead to regret.
i agree with may-- i loved your intro! it works well by tying in the humorous style of the novel and a lighthearted approach for interested YAs. i'm personnally not really interested in pop culture things, but i'm actually pretty interested in reading the novel because it sounds fun. in addition, i always wanted to write a novel with another author, so i'm curious to know how that plays out. great review!
This book sounds as if the two authors took a serious subject and
in turn wrote it in a light hearted
manner to give the book some funny
moments. I think that teens do go
through many moments of indecision
as to who they are - and how quickly friendships can change and
leave one forever.
Great review!
Mary g.
As a girl in high school, boys and what not were very hot topics! this book would have been good for me to read because my best friend and me didn't talk for a year because she made out with my crush!! haha, doesn't seem so monoumental now but in high school, it was a big deal!
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