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Bass Ackwards and Belly Up (Bass Ackwards and Belly Up #1)

Bass Ackwards and Belly Up (Bass Ackwards and Belly Up #1)

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Bass Ackwards and Belly Up (Bass Ackwards and Belly Up #1)

Author(s)

Elizabeth Craft

Co-Authors / Illustrators

Sarah Fain

Publisher

Time Warner Bookmark

Genre(s)

General Fiction

Age Range

12+

Release Date

April 01, 2007

ISBN

0316057932

Buy This Book

Hitching the dream train isnt easy. Harper, Sophie, Kate, and Becca are four best friends who are in for a whirlwind ride of hope, humiliation, romance, tears, and laughteras well as amazing self-discovery in the year that changes everything.The path: Graduate high school, head to college. The dream: Try something daring and exciting. The plan: Help each other realize their greatest dreams.This smart and commercial first novel will appeal to readers of the New York Times bestselling Gossip Girl and A-List series.

Editor reviews

2 reviews

Right side down and downside up

May 07, 2006

Overall rating

5.0

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Whats the ultimate sin a college-bound teenager can commit? How about ditching college to pursue their dreams? Look over your shoulder&yeah, thats your parent twitching in horror.

In Bass Ackwards and Belly Up, four girls find themselves with some decisions to make right before going off to college. The dilemma begins with Harper, who isnt going to college because she wasnt accepted at her dream University (and hadnt applied anywhere else). But that isnt what she tells her three best friends or her family too ashamed to admit she didnt get in, she instead tells everyone that shes going to stay home, move into the basement, and work on the next great American novel.

Her decision prompts some deep thought in her friends and two of them decide they need to follow their hearts as well. Sophie decides to move to Beverly Hills to try her hand at acting shes got the attitude and the looks and the burning desire to be a star. Then theres Kate, the one youd think would be least likely to change her plans and do something daring&which is exactly why she decides to travel Europe and find herself instead of going off to Harvard.

Only Becca finds herself sticking to the original plan and leaving home to attend college at Middlebury. But shes been tasked with a huge life-altering goal as well: fall in love. Coming from a very dysfunctional family, letting herself go and letting someone in is harder than youd think.

Each chapter focuses in on a different girl as she tries to fulfill her dream and overcome obstacles that at times seem very intense. Readers will turn the pages eagerly (I know I did) to find out what will happen next. Will Harper get together with Mr. Finelli (her former teacher and longtime crush)? Will she get past her writers block and self-imposed writers blindness to actually complete her novel? Will Sophie accept second-class treatment from a rising movie star (who, admittedly, is really, really hot) or will she stick up for herself? Will Becca fall for Stuart or languish in unrequited love for Jared (formerly Kates boyfriend)? Will Kate find the strength to find herself in Europe or will she give in to her parents and become the perfect daughter again?

I feel like Im reducing this great book down to some silly clichÃ©s, but thats what you get sometimes when trying to reduce a book down to a short review. The book itself is NOT riddled with trite situations or phrases, though it easily could have been. Instead, it is a true pleasure to read with an honest, real-life feel. I really enjoyed this one and I think you will too. Recommended for readers aged 12 and up. Some sexual situations are included, but nothing overly explicit and not at all gratuitous.

Kimberly Pauley Top 50 Reviewer 393 reviews

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8 reviews

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4 stars

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1 star

13%

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4.1

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4.1(8)

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light & fun

January 01, 2009

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4.0

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Reader reviewed by Katie

Harper didn't get into her dream college, NYU. Or any collge for that matter. So when she deceives her friends into thinking she's putting off college in favor of her Dream - writing the next Great American Novel - they are inspired to follow their own Dreams. Sophie moves to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an actress. Kate plans to backpack around Europe. Becca decides she can go to college and follow her Dream at the same time. Meanwhile, Harper is living in her parents basement. The girls get themselves into numerous sticky situations. They each have their own romantic ventures as well. They discover that the road to finding themselves isn't everything they thought it would be.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I wasn't quite sure if I was going to like this book because I had a hard time getting into it at first. By the end, though, I was hooked. It was slow to start but it got a lot better as it went on. I found myself sitting there with a huge grin on my face at some points and laughing out loud at others. It takes place over a span of three months, which when you think about sounds like a long time but really didn't seem like it. Each chapter was written from a different character's point of view.

Bass Ackwards and Belly Up and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series are alike in some ways. For example, they both have that group of girls discovering themselves thing going on. If you're a fan of the Traveling Pants then you'll definitely like this book. I recommend this book if you're looking for a light, funny read.

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sucky

June 05, 2007

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1.0

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Reader reviewed by Bria

This book was horrible. I could not even finish the book before I fell asleep. It had so much potential, but failed miserable. This is like the cheap, cheap version of the gossip girls. There was nothing for you to hold onto. Yes the novel was hopeful in some ways, but truly it was a waste of time for everyone involved.

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sisterhood of the traveling dream

February 08, 2007

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5.0

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Reader reviewed by Alexandra

Best friends Harper, Sophie, Becca, and Kate have done everything together since elementary school. Now they've graduated, and are about to go off to college. True, they're all going to different schools, in different cities, but they're still all having the same experiences, just in different locations. Then, the night before Becca is supposed to leave for Middlebury, Harper drops a bomb. Instead of heading off to Manhattan, she's going to be staying at home in her parents basement and writing the next Great American Novel. In other words, following her Dream. Sophie and Kate quickly hop on board the "Dream Train," as they call it, going to L.A. and Europe, respectively. For Becca, joining the Middlebury ski team is her dream, but her friends tell her she should work on expanding her horizons by falling in love. As the girls' powerful stories alternate throughout the novel, you will be rooting for all of them to accomplish their dreams. True, there are obstacles: a bitter ski coach, skeezy guys, and writer's block, to name a few. But this Dream Train is full speed ahead, and it doesn't stop for anything or anyone.

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Romantic and Charming

September 18, 2006

Overall rating

5.0

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Reader reviewed by Stephanie

Often described as Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants for older readers, Bass Ackwards and Belly Up is a sweet debut novel that tracks an unexpected season in four friends' lives. Sophie, Kate, Becca, and Harper are all supposed to go to college... but at the last minute Harper tells them that she's staying home to go for her dream: writing the next Great American Novel. In actuality she's been rejected from the only school she applied to, but she conveniently doesn't tell her friends that. Harper's announcement starts a rebellion shocking in the girls' comfortable suburban neighborhood: Kate and Sophie decide to not go to college either. Sophie's going to LA to pursue her dream of being an actor, and Kate's decided to travel around Europe in search of something she's passionate about, something different from her life of plans. Becca's the only one of the four still going to college in Middlebury, so her friends give her an assignment in addition to being a skiing star: she has to fall in love.

In LA, Sophie has an up-and-down something going on with Sam, pool boy of the family she's staying with. She also gets together with a famous actor. Kate travels around Europe trying to accomplish the list of 100 things her friends have given her to do. Harper procrastinates on writing her novel and feels an attraction between her and Mr. Finelli, her hot and young former AP English teacher. And Becca deals with an unfair Middlebury coach and her disgust for football star Stuart Pendergrass... who happens to like her. A lot.

How will their romantic relationships turn out? Will their dreams come true? Bass Ackwards and Belly Up starts out slow, but it's well worth the first 50 pages of non-action. A sequel is in the process of publication.

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Really good

August 22, 2006

Overall rating

5.0

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Reader reviewed by Sarah

This book reminded my a lot of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in that it rotates around the views of four best friends going their separate ways. But the thing that was different about this book from the Sisterhood books was that Kate, Harper, Becca, and Sophie aren't just friends who never fight and get along all the time like daisies. They have real friends problems and fight and nag. This is what made them seem more realistic to me. Even though it wouldn't be likely that anyone would ditch Harvard to follow their "dream" like Kate, but you never know. Overall I really enjoyed this book, it was really captivating.

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follow your dreams, you never know where they might lead you

June 20, 2006

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4.0

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Reader reviewed by linda

Kate, Harper, Becca, and Sophie were all prepared to go to their pre-planned and parent approved colleges when Harper dropped a bombshell announcement. She was going to follow her dream of writing a great novel and she wasn't going to college that year. This sets off a chain reaction and causes Kate, Becca, and Sophie to realize their dreams. Kate goes off to Europe for a trip to discover herself, Sophie moves to L.A. to become an actress, and Becca is the only one going to college because her dreams happen to be exactly what she was planning on doing in the first place. All their plans get messed up by some of the guys they meet but they have chances at true love. In the end they realize that their dreams are a lot more important and can change their lives forever.

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amazing!

June 06, 2006

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5.0

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Reader reviewed by Jocelyn

In this book, four friends are about to go to college, when one of them, Harper, makes a shocking announcement. She's not going to NYU. She says it's so she can follow her dream to be a writer, to write the next Great American Novel, when, in reality, it's because she didn't get accepted to the only school she applied to.

If Harper's committing the "ultimate suburban sin" isn't shocking enough, Sophie and Kate send the worlds of their middle-class families way out of orbit. Sophie is going to be an actress in LA, following her dreams, and completely college-bound Kate is going to Europe! The only one to stick to her original plan is Becca, and that's not going to be easy.

In this amazing book, four friends learn a lot about each other, themselves, and their dreams, having some fun and some humiliation along the way! This book is funny, sad, and, most of all, real. There really are people who skip out on college, and, yeah, their parents definitely do NOT approve. I know my parents wouldn't! But for Sophie, Harper, and Kate, maybe that's what it takes to find their dreams, themselves, and each other. Read this book!!

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Story about college students

March 01, 2006

Overall rating

4.0

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Reader reviewed by Ria

Four best friends, Harper, Kate, Sophie and Becca are all looking forward to starting college. At least, 3 of them are. Harper has decided to follow her "dream" and stay behind to write the next famous American novel. As she convinces her 3 angry friends to see things from her point of view, they begin to realize that maybe they aren't ready for college yet either. Sophie decides to put her college career on hold to travel to Los Angeles in hopes of pursuing a career in acting. Harverd bound Kate, the one person who always does what's right, decides to take the year off and travel to Europe, which leaves Becca alone. Becca is the one person going to college, Middlebury, to ski for the best coach and find love.

As the months go by, the four girls learn a lot about their families, life and love. They lose people who were important to them, but they also find new people who truely care.

When I first saw the title and cover of the book, I honestly didn't know what to expect. But I started the book and really got into the story. Being a college student, I could relate to what some of the girls were going through. It was great to read a story from the view of college students, as not many books out there feature main characters around that age. This book reminds me a lot of The Traveling Pants books by Ann Brashares. Yet it's a refreshing twist on not doing what everyone expects you to do and finding out your true personality. I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend this.

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