The Boyfriend List

The Boyfriend List
By E. Lockhart
Delacorte Press, 2005. 229 pgs. Young Adult

Ruby Oliver's life has fallen apart. She's managed to lose her boyfriend, her best friend, and every other friend. She's managed to acquire quite the reputation and the tendency to have panic attacks. Her parents decide she'll need to see her shrink, and Doctor Z tells Ruby to make a boyfriend list--a list with every boy she's ever dated or even thought about dating. Ruby embarks on a journey to understand her interaction with the opposite sex and how she ended up in such a mess.

Ruby is a highly engaging narrator, providing little asides in the form of footnotes which really added to the humor of the book. Ruby's voice is so realistic and strong, and the story is so painfully true to high school that readers will likely be reminded of their own experiences (or those of someone they know).

AE