Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin:
As if transferring senior year weren't hard enough, Charlotte Locke has been bumped to lower level classes at her new school. With no friends, a terrible math SAT score, and looming college application deadlines, the future is starting to seem like an oncoming train for which she has no ticket.
Then Amanda enters her orbit like a hot-pink meteor, offering Charlotte a ticket to something else: popularity. Amanda is fearless, beautiful, brilliant, and rich. As her new side kick, Charlotte is brought into the elite clique of the debate team—and closer to Neal, Amanda's equally brilliant friend and the most perfect boy Charlotte has ever seen.
But just when senior year is looking up, Charlotte’s life starts to crumble. The more things heat up between Charlotte and Neal, the more Neal wants to hide their relationship. Is he ashamed? Meanwhile, Amanda is starting to act strangely competitive, and she's keeping a secret Charlotte doesn't want to know.
Talented newcomer Alexa Martin delivers a poignant story of first love, jealousy and friendship, where the ups and downs of senior year have never been so complicated. What else can Charlotte do but throw her hands up and ride?I read Girl Wonder back in March and should have written a review back then. It's now 2 months later and honestly this book didn't leave a lasting impression on me. I rated it 3 stars on goodreads when I finished reading it and then forgot about it. The book dealt with many different issues from family to friends to boys to school, partying, sex, drugs, learning disabilities, expectations... At times I felt for Charlotte and at other times could not relate to the choices she made. For me the subject matter of the book was the drawback not the writing itself. I would likely pick up and read another book by this author.
Content: Language, sex, drugs & alcohol use
Rating: 3 Stars
Source: ARC Tour
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Welcome to Author Alexa MartinBio:Alexa Martin holds an MFA in Writing and Literature from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She lives near Seattle and complains about the weather a lot although she secretly likes the rain (don't tell!) For fun and torture she runs long distances on muddy mountain trails. Over the years she's worked a lot of random jobs in trying to keep the writing dream alive, such as the time she worked in a steakhouse even though she's a vegetarian. Initially GIRL WONDER was about a story about a horse, which just goes to show you that art is what happens when you are making other plans.
http://www.alexamartin.com/index.htmlWhen I'm Not Writing:Talking about your hobbies, etc and what you do when you aren't writing.
Probably the number one thing that people associate me with is trail running. It's my favorite thing to do, and nothing makes me feel so much like a kid as flying down mountain trails and getting muddy and sweaty. I switched to trail running about five years ago after an orthopedist told me that I should never run for more than an hour. Six months later I ran a fifty kilometer trail race injury free. Trail running is so much better for your body than pounding the pavement.
Here's a picture of me at a recent trail race (the Orcas Island 25K)--I don't know why I'm smiling, since the course was really tough!
http://www.pbase.com/gtach/image/132350322I love turning non-runners into runners and I'm good at it, since I was once a non-runner myself. I understand the excuses that people make for why they don't run. I understand how it feels to be afraid that you're going to hold everyone back. I understand that you're worried that you're going to look stupid (you won't, fyi). I also know that you secretly WANT to be a runner, even if you don't know it yet, and since I'm the daughter of a psychiatrist I'm pretty good at breaking down people's mental barriers. If you hang out with me for more than a minute there's a good change that you'll be running your first half marathon sooner than later. Consider yourself warned!
I have an all-gals trail running group called the Dirty Girls, which is open to any female of any ability level as long as you don't mind getting a little muddy and a lot wet (if you live in the Pacific Northwest, like I do, you have to make friends with rain and mud). My proudest moment recently was watching two friends who always have perfect hair and perfect clothes run through their first giant mud-puddle. They had so much fun, and I was so proud of them.
I love hanging out with my family and friends. I love going to movies, and I'm always on the lookout for something good to watch so feel free to tell me your favorites! My favorite meal of the day is breakfast, and I'm a sucker for scones. I think rasperberries are the perfect fruit, and I'm addicted to my morning cup of coffee (or, as I'm often teased, my morning cup of sugar and cream with a little coffee added).
Now tell me a few of YOUR favorite things!
Girl Wond
Great post! I got this book last week and it's on my short list.
Thx!
Great post and Girl Wonder sounds amazing.
-Mocha from A Cupcake and A Latte.