ALL- AMERICAN GIRL

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A sophomore girl stops a presidential assassination attempt, is appointed Teen Ambassador to the United Nations, and catches the eye of the very cute First Son.

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All-American Girl (MSR) Okay, here are the top ten reasons why I can't stand my sister Lucy: 10. I get all her hand-me-downs, even her bras. 9. When I refuse to wear her hand-me-downs, especially her bras, I get the big lecture about waste and the environment. Look, I am way concerned about the environment. But that does not mean I want to wear my sister's old bras. I told Mom I see no reason why I should even have to wear a bra, seeing as how it's not like I've got a lot to put in one, causing Lucy to remark that if I don't wear a bra now then if I ever do get anything up there, it will be all saggy like those tribal women we saw on the Discovery Channel. 8. This is another reason why I can't stand Lucy. Because she is always making these kind of remarks. What we should really do, if you ask me, is send Lucy's old bras to those tribal women. 7. Her conversations on the phone go like this: "No way. . . . So what did he say? . . . Then what did she say? . . . No way. . . . That is so totally untrue. . . . I do not. I so do not. . . . Who said that? . . . Well, it isn't true. . . . No, I do not. . . . I do not like him. . . . Well, okay, maybe I do. Oh, gotta go, call-waiting." 6. She is a cheerleader. All right? A cheerleader. Like it isn't bad enough she spends all her time waving pom-poms at a bunch of Neanderthals as they thunder up and down a football field. No, she has to do it practically every night. And since Mom and Dad are fanatical about this mealtime-is-family-time thing, guess what we are usually doing at five thirty? And who is even hungry then? 5. All of my teachers go: "You know, Samantha, when I had your sister in this class two years ago, I never had to remind her to: a) double space b) carry the one c) capitalize her nouns in Deutsch d) remember her swimsuit e) take off her headphones during morning announcements f) stop drawing on her pants." 4. She has a boyfriend. And not just any boyfriend, either, but a nonjock boyfriend, something totally unheard-of in the social hierarchy of our school: a cheerleader going with a nonjock boyfriend. And it isn't even that he's not a jock. Oh, no, Jack also happens to be an urban rebel like me, only he really goes all out, you know, in the black army surplus trench coat and the Doc Martens and the straight Ds and all. Plus he wears an earring that hangs. But even though he is not "book smart," Jack is very talented and creative artistically. For instance, he is always getting his paintings of disenfranchised American youths hung up in the caf. And nobody even graffitis them, the way they would if they were mine. Jack's paintings, I mean. As if that is not cool enough, Mom and Dad completely hate him because of his not working up to his potential and getting suspended for his anti-authoritarianism and calling them Carol and Richard to their faces instead of Mr. and Mrs. Madison. It is totally unfair that Lucy should not only have a cool boyfriend but a boyfriend our parents can't stand, something I have been praying for my entire life, practically. Although actually at this point any kind of boyfriend would be acceptable. 3. In spite of the fact that she is dating an artistic rebel type instead of a jock, Lucy remains one of the most popular girls in school, routinely getting invited to parties and dances every weekend, so many that she could not possibly attend them all, and often says things like, "Hey, Sam, why don't you and Catherine go as, like, my emissaries?" even though if Catherine and I ever stepped into a party like that we would be vilified as sophomore poseurs and thrown out onto the street. 2. She gets along with Mom and Dad -- except for the whole Jack thing -- and always has. She even gets along with our little sister, Rebecca, who goes to a special school for the intellectually gifted and is practically an idiot savant. But the number-one reason I can't stand my sister Lucy would have to be: 1. She told on me about the celebrity drawings. Chapter One She says she didn't mean to. She says she found them in my room, and they were so good she couldn't help showing them to Mom. Of course, it never occurred to Lucy that she shouldn't have been in my room in the first place. When I accused her of completely violating my constitutionally protected right to personal privacy, she just looked at me like, Huh? even though she is fully taking U.S. Government this semester. Her excuse is that she was looking for her eyelash curler. Hello. Like I would borrow anything of hers. Especially something that had been near her big, bulbous eyeballs. Instead of her eyelash curler, which of course I didn't have, Lucy found this week's stash of drawings, and she presented them to Mom at dinner that night. "Well," Mom said in this very dry voice. "Now we know how you got that C-minus in German, don't we, Sam?" This was on account of the fact that the drawings were in my German notebook. "Is this supposed to be that guy from The Patriot?" my dad wanted to know. "Who is that you've drawn with him? Is that . . . is that Catherine?" "German," I said, feeling that they were missing the point, "is a stupid language." "German isn't stupid," my little sister Rebecca informed me. "The Germans can trace their heritage back to ethnic groups that existed during the days of the Roman Empire. Their language is an ancient and beautiful one that was created thousands of years ago." "Whatever," I said. "Did you know that they capitalize all of their nouns? What is up with that?" "Hmmm," my mother said, flipping to the front of my German notebook. "What have we here?" My dad went, "Sam, what are you doing drawing pictures of Catherine on the back of a horse with that guy from The Patriot?" "I think this will explain it, Richard," my mother said, and she passed the notebook back to my dad. In my own defense, I can only state that, for better or for worse, we live in a capitalistic society. I was merely enacting my rights of individual initiative by supplying the public -- in the form of most of the female student population at John Adams Preparatory School -- with a product for which I saw there was a demand. You would think that my dad, who is an international economist with the World Bank, would understand this. But as he read aloud from my German notebook in an astonished voice, I could tell he did not understand. He did not understand at all. "You and Josh Hartnett," my dad read, "fifteen dollars. You and Josh Hartnett on a desert island, twenty dollars. You and Justin Timberlake, ten dollars. You and Justin Timberlake under a waterfall, fifteen dollars. You and Keanu Reeves, fifteen dollars. You and -- " My dad looked up. "Why are Keanu and Josh more than Justin?" "Because," I explained, "Justin has less hair." "Oh," my dad said. "I see." He went back to the list. All-American Girl (MSR) . Copyright © by Meg Cabot . Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Cabot (The Princess Diaries) presents another teen-pleasing novel and another likable heroine in this story set in Washington, D.C. Feisty, red-haired Samantha, a self-described "urban rebel" who has dyed all of her clothes black, is a 15-year-old middle child, uncomfortably wedged between her popular, cheerleader older sister, Lucy, and her brainy 11-year-old sister, Rebecca. And she has a major crush on Jack, Lucy's nonconformistartist boyfriend, whom she feels is far better suited to her than to her rather vacuous sister. The entertainingly opinionated narrator's wry top-10 lists add considerably to the tale's charm and speedy pacing, among them, the "top ten reasons why I can't stand my sister Lucy" and the "top ten signs that Jack loves me and not my sister Lucy and just hasn't realized it yet." Sam's life suddenly changes dramatically when, while standing on the sidewalk one afternoon, she foils an attempt to assassinate the President. She becomes a national hero overnight, is named teen ambassador to the United Nations and eventually lands the president's son as her beau. Despite these rather unlikely plot twists (in a comic coincidence, the president's son also happens to be a fellow student in her art class whom she finds attractive), Sam's spunky and intermittently affecting narrative, as well as the true-to-life voices of the supporting cast of characters, make this a convincing and diverting tale. As Sam learns important truths about herself, Cabot interjects a worthy message into her comedic caper. Ages 12-up. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

Gr 5-10-While waiting for her ride home from an after-school art class, Samantha Madison, a sophomore at John Adams Preparatory School in Washington, DC, inadvertently saves the President's life by jumping on the back of a would-be assassin. Suddenly, she is a celebrity, invited to the White House for dinner, named the teen ambassador to the U.N., and revered by her fellow classmates. Yet, even her new star status doesn't allow her to get what she really wants-a date with her sister's boyfriend, Jack. Hoping to make him jealous, she asks out the President's son. The plan backfires, but Samantha discovers who she really is in the process. Cabot uses vision as a metaphor for how a budding artist grows to "see" herself and others more clearly. The first-person narrative contains Samantha's top-10 lists between chapters, adding to the hilarious plot. The setting is used to interject a few historical facts about the White House and its former residents without intruding on the entertaining story. Readers will enjoy Samantha's interactions with the other delightful characters, especially her sisters. Cabot fully understands teens, their language, and their world. There are at least 10 reasons why libraries will want to own this book, but the most important one is that it simply will not stay on the shelves.-Linda L. Plevak, Saint Mary's Hall, San Antonio, TX(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Gr. 9-12. Cabot, author of the best-selling Princess Diaries series, offers another hilarious, page-turning fantasy about an outsider who is thrown into the glamorous spotlight. Unlike her older sister Lucy, high-school sophomore Samantha lurks on the edges of her school's social scene. Her passions are art and, unfortunately, Lucy's boyfriend Jack, a rebellious teen artist who lives in the same toney Washington, D.C., suburb. When Samantha inadvertently saves the president from an attempted assassination, her life drastically alters: she not only becomes a national hero and the «it» girl at her school but also ends up dating the president's cute son. Absurdly far-fetched? Absolutely, but like Cabot's previous books, that's exactly why this is so much fun. Cabot throws in plenty of obstacles and well-paced social angst to keep up the suspense, making Sam's romantic happy ending hard earned. There's also surprising depth in the characters and plenty of authenticity in the cultural details and the teenage voices--particularly in Sam's poignant, laugh-out-loud narration. Expect this to fly off the shelves. Gillian Engberg.

Horn Book Review

Combat-boot-wearing individualistic artist Sam (Samantha) Madison takes national celebrity in stride after saving the president from assassination--but finds it more difficult to discern her true feelings for David, the president's nice (but geeky) son. Cabot narrates engrossing situations in an authentic and likable teen voice--this is romance at its wish-fulfilling finest. From HORN BOOK Spring 2003, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

The bestselling author of the Princess Diaries series turns to a different head of state in a comedy about a privileged but disaffected adolescent girl whose life undergoes a radical transformation when she instinctively jumps on a gunman, foiling his plan to assassinate the president. Samantha Madison, who dyes all her clothing black to show her high-minded solidarity with the hungry, the homeless, and the art-program-deprived, is anything but a heroic figure. The middle child in an overachieving Washington, D.C., family, Samantha is stuck between her pretty and popular older sister, Lucy, a cheerleader "whose primary concern . . . is not missing a single sale at Club Monaco" and her super-smart younger sister, Rebecca, who is so brilliant that she's "practically an idiot savant." Worse, Samantha is madly in love with Lucy's boyfriend, Jack, an alienated, earring-wearing, aspiring artist who not so incidentally also happens to be a hunk. Written in the first person, Cabot's strength is her heroine's funny, authentic voice, though her utilization of trendy labels and extreme colloquial style may limit the material's longevity. After saving the president's life, Samantha is suddenly catapulted from nobody to national hero in the world at large and from social outcast to social arbiter in the microcosm of her school. Ambivalence over her burgeoning celebrity and mushrooming popularity, coupled with high-level political conflicts involving her new duties as the US teen ambassador to the UN and a budding but bumpy relationship with the first son, keeps the plot rolling, all the way to its satisfying, distinctively American conclusion. Great fun. (Fiction. 12-15)