Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Stephanie

Sophomore Samantha Madison is redheaded, a middle child, left-handed, and in her opinion one of the only teenage girls left who have not succumbed to Abercrombie & Fitch and other fashion trends. She's a wannabe radical: she dyed her wardrobe black and she's in love with her popular older sister Lucy's boyfriend Jack, who's as "radical" as they get.

Sam thinks it's the end of her already lousy world when, as a punishment for bad grades, her parents send her to art lessons at Susan Boone's. Sam's a good artist, but she doesn't take well to criticism, and so when on the first day Susan Boone accuses her of not drawing what she knows, Sam decides not to come back. Ever.

Which turned out to be a good thing, because the next time she was hiding out from art lessons, she manages to stop an assassination attempt on the president.

All of a sudden Sam is the IT girl at her school, the US, the whole world. The president awards her the position of teen ambassador to the the UN and his cute son David (also in Susan Boone's art class) thinks there's something special about Sam. Only Sam knows there's nothing very heroic about her action. And she doesn't understand why David's being so nice to her, or why her heart skitters when he smiles at her, or why she felt so bad after David found out she had used him to make Jack jealous at a party. Because she's totally in love with Jack.

Right?

What fun ALL-AMERICAN GIRL is! People of all ages will enjoy this book. Samantha is an amazing protagonist, and her narration will pull you along like nothing ever had. Highly recommended!