Bookish Boyfriends: A Date with Darcy by Tiffany Schmidt
I'm in the middle of a couple of books. Books that are either sequels or companions to other books I have read and enjoyed, but for whatever reason, I am having a hard time getting through. I decided to peruse Overdrive from my local public library to see what I could see. The title led me to believe it would have something to do with my favorite novel, Pride and Prejudice, and I was not wrong.
This is about sixteen-year-old Merrilee. She has an older sister who is marrying a local politician's son, and a younger sister who is an angsty artist. She lives next door to her best guy friend, and lives reasonably close to her best girl friend (conveniently, her two best friends don't really like each other). She is an avid reader and has proclaimed that book boyfriends are the best.
The book starts on Merri's first day of her sophomore year at a private high school. She, her best girl friend, and her younger sister are all new students there. On the very first day, she sees a young man looking swoony against a tree, and gets belittled by another cute guy. By the end of the week, swoony guy becomes her boyfriend.
She has to read Romeo and Juliet for her English class, and she feels a certain kinship to that tale, particularly with her boyfriend having been cast in the school play as Romeo. But he is a bit over the top and doesn't always play by the rules, which ultimately leads Merri to get into trouble (and leads to her breaking up with him). Her English teacher is in charge of Merri's punishment, and she assigns Pride and Prejudice to Merri.
Merri becomes engrossed in the book (who could blame her?) and sees the characters in people she knows around her. If Merri is Lizzy, then who is her Darcy?
This was a cute read, and I wouldn't mind reading more like it.
