Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention.Shut Out by Kody Keplinger
Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: she and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. And Lissa never sees her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling, coming.
Inspired by Aristophanes' play Lysistrata, critically acclaimed author of The Duff (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) Kody Keplinger adds her own trademark humor in this fresh take on modern teenage romance, rivalry and sexuality
From Goodreads
Published: September 5, 2011
Teen Book Scene [Tour]
Shut Out [Music Playlist]
When football meets soccer; and girls meet boys; and sex
meets strike; what is left? Hilarity, heartbreak, and a book full of hidden
depth. If you haven’t guessed yet, I’m talking about Shut Out by Kody Keplinger. A book that dares to go “there” and “there”
and yes, “there” all within its pages.
Having already read The Duff, I wasn’t as shocked by
Keplinger’s story about a sex strike. Although the topic of sex is quite taboo
in YA and Teen books, Keplinger’s approach remains truthful and tasteful. I was
never uncomfortable and I could definitely picture teens reading this book and
enjoying it. Not because it mentions sex, but because they can relate to the
main topics.
When the girls declare a strike against their feuding
boyfriends’: hilarity ensues. Main character, and strike leader, Lissa becomes
fed up with her football player boyfriend (Randy), so she decides to end the rivalry
between the football and soccer teams in the only way she can think: End the
hanky panky until the boys give in and stop their escalating feuds with the
other sports team.
Smart idea? Yes. Bad idea? Yes.
Nothing goes as planned and Lissa finds herself in the
middle of frustrated girls, angry boys, and hubba delicious Cash (McSwoony)
Sterling. Cash, the one boy all the girls want but can never have. He plays, he
flirts, and most of all, he only has eyes for our darling girl Lissa. When he
takes up a job at the local library, Lissa is beside herself. Between mega
steamy glances from Cash and melting into puddles around him, Lissa finds her
heart is slowly becoming his.
Did I mention swoon? Yes!
Underneath the fun times with the strike, and the hilarity
and pranks, Keplinger’s story focuses greatly on family and self image. She
weaves heavy topics into an enjoyable (non preachy) way. I really enjoyed this
book. I enjoyed it far more than I originally thought.
My final stance. Girls vs. Boys definitely
equals a must read!
About the Blogger
I liked this one more than I thought I would, but I kinda felt like Keplinger made too light of something I think is a pretty serious topic. And, I feel that for all the (preachy) talk in the book about being your own kind of sexual- I think that a lot of teens are going to read this and feel weird that they aren't sexually active. I actually think that while Yes, teens DO have sex, I think that teens are less sexual that adults seem to think they are.
ReplyDeleteThanks for review... I enjoyed it too.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read this one! (And the Duff!) Although, I'm not sure about all the teenage sex, it's odd that I admit that *blush* But if it's done well? I'm sure it's fine...
ReplyDeleteSounds fun! Thanks for the review.
ReplyDelete