Being Sloane Jacobs

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Author(s)

Lauren Morrill

Publisher

Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Genre(s)

Age Range

12+

Release Date

January 07, 2014

ISBN

9780385741798

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Meet Sloane Emily Jacobs: a seriously stressed-out figure-skater from Washington, D.C., who choked during junior nationals and isn’t sure she’s ready for a comeback. What she does know is that she’d give anything to escape the mass of misery that is her life.

Now meet Sloane Devon Jacobs, a spunky ice hockey player from Philly who’s been suspended from her team for too many aggressive hip checks. Her punishment? Hockey camp, now, when she’s playing the worst she’s ever played. If she messes up? Her life will be over.

When the two Sloanes meet by chance in Montreal and decide to trade places for the summer, each girl thinks she’s the lucky one: no strangers to judge or laugh at Sloane Emily, no scouts expecting Sloane Devon to be a hero. But it didn’t occur to Sloane E. that while avoiding sequins and axels she might meet a hockey hottie—and Sloane D. never expected to run into a familiar (and very good-looking) face from home. It’s not long before the Sloanes discover that convincing people you’re someone else might be more difficult than being yourself.

Editor reviews

6 reviews

Overall rating

4.7

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4.7(3)

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4.7(3)

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Great Sports Book

March 26, 2014

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5.0

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Sloane Emily Jacobs is the pampered daughter of a senator who is expected to really excel at figure skating. Sloane Devon Jacobs is a hockey player from a tough Philadelphia neighborhood who has some anger management issues. Both girls are sent to camps for their respective sports in Montreal. They have a hostile meeting in a hotel, their bags are switched, and they decide to switch places, mistakenly thinking that the others' sport is easier. They find out differently. Not only are both sports physically grueling, but there are mean girls in each, and a lot of competition. Both girls struggle with perfecting a new sport, meet cute boys, and deal with escalating family problems. Is the grass really greener on the other side of the ice?

What a fantastic book! This was just the sort of book a lot of my 8th grade girls want. The cover made me think it would be a sappy romance, but it wasn't at all. I enjoyed the fact that the girls had a lot of other interests other than the boys, but there was a bit of romance as well, and nothing inappropriate. Both girls get to show how difficult their sport is, and there are a ton of good details about both figure skating and ice hockey.

This is a great book for fans of Freitas' Gold Medal Winter, Messner's Sugar and Ice, and Davis' The Boyfriend Game.

Karen Yingling, Staff Reviewer Top 10 Reviewer 2014 reviews

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Could This Book Be Any Cuter?

February 26, 2014 (Updated: February 26, 2014)

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5.0

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When I first heard that this book was "The Parent Trap meets The Cutting Edge" I KNEW I must read it. These are two of my most favorite movies and I have been known to bust out Cutting Edge quotes at any given moment. I was so excited to dive right into this book. I'm so excited that this book met every one of my expectations.

What I loved: If you are looking for a fun, contemporary read look no further. This is it. The two Sloane Jacobs decide to switch places-one heads off for a hockey camp while the other has to learn the fine art of the toe pick at a prestigious figure skating camp. The results are full of funny moments both on and off the ice. I wouldn't peg this one as a "romance" but there is enough of hot hockey player moments to keep us all happy.

I loved reading how both girls had to learn their new sport in just a short amount of time. They manage to fly under the radar and learn new skills on the ice and a lot about themselves off the ice. Sometimes a change of scenery does a person good and both girls end up in a much better place at the end of their crazy journey.

What left me wanting more: Nothing. Just like Morrill's Meant to Be, this was such a delightful read. Contemporary fans won't be disappointed.

Final verdict: If you grew up watching The Parent Trap and The Cutting Edge then you will fall in love with Being Sloane Jacobs.

Claire Johnson, Staff Reviewer Top 50 Reviewer 238 reviews

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The Parent Trap Meets The Cutting Edge FOR REAL

January 02, 2014

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4.0

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What I Liked:
Being Sloane Jacobs is every bit as fun and fluffy as Meant to Be, with bonus family drama, pop culture references, and rarely covered (in YA at least) sports.

Being Sloane Jacobs was originally pitched as The Cutting Edge meets The Parent Trap. Now such blah meets blah advertising strategies tend to be a whole bunch of bull hockey (see what I did there?). In this case, though, that description is complete perfection. Considering that I grew up watching both of these things, I was happy as a clam (are clams happy?) from the beginning to the end.

In case you’ve not seen the cinematic gem The Cutting Edge, the basic premise is that a washed up hockey player ends up getting hired to be the partner to a bitchy princess of an ice skater who no actual pairs figure skater is willing to partner anymore. Morrill has taken this and changed it to two heroines: one washed up figure skater and one troubled hockey player. Both of them have lost their mojo at their chosen sport and, for different reasons, have been sent to training camps in Montreal for the summer.

When the two Sloane Jacobses meet by accident in their hotel, they hatch a plan to Parent Trap it up. No, they’re not long lost siblings. However, they’re both sick of their respective lives and want to escape family drama and the pressure of their respective sports. They agree to swap, both assuming that the other sport will be a total breeze compared to her own, in a taunting session that’s so completely The Cutting Edge that I flailed a bit. Of course, in swapping, they learn a lot about themselves and a new respect for another sport. Morrill does a great job with the descriptions of both the figure skating and the hockey, though I think she does the latter particularly well probably thanks to her roller derby experience (lots of hard hits in that sport too).

Both Sloane Emily and Sloane Devon are interesting girls, though I do gravitate a bit more to the hard-edged Sloane Devon. Sloane Emily’s dealing with her Senator father’s recent scandal and her mother’s overbearing attitude. Sloane Devon has a mother in rehab and a desperate need for a scholarship to have any hope of college. The scene stealer of the show, in my opinion, is Andy, a sassy black figure skater who I think is just the best.

In proper Lauren Morrill style, there is, of course, some romance. However, unlike with Meant to Be, the romance is NOT the central theme of the novel. It takes a backseat to sports, friendship and family, in roughly that order. Both girls get a cute boy and, just like in Meant to Be, it’s delightfully realistic and non-HEAish. Morill achieves this perfect balance between swooniness and a sense that the relationships probably won’t last forever.

What Left Me Wanting More:
Obviously, I read an ARC copy, but I did note a couple of things that will hopefully be fixed before the final copy is printed. As I know I’ve seen Ashleigh (The YA Kitten) point out, mention is made of Sloane Devon not having washed her hockey gear since Justin Timberlake was releasing albums, implying that it had been ages, which I do not believe to be the case. I also felt the two perspectives could have sounded a bit more distinct, but I never had much of an issue telling the two apart, since they were almost never in the same place.

The Final Verdict:
Lauren Morrill is an author I trust to write deliciously fluffy novels. They’re like dessert: satisfying and happy-making, only, magically, you can’t over-indulge in this dessert and make yourself sick. Being Sloane Jacobs is an excellent choice if you like sports stories or adorableness.

Christina Franke, Staff Top 10 Reviewer 677 reviews

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Cute read

January 25, 2014

Overall rating

4.0

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This book title had been floating around my fellow book bloggers since shortly after I became a part of the book blogger community. I had seen the synopsis and I was truly excited for it although I knew my chances of getting an ARC of it were pretty slim. Imagine my surprise when I got the email from NetGalley a few months ago, in October.

I downloaded it instantly but wasn't able to get to it until recently.It was well worth the wait. It made me cry, laugh and have all the feels in between. This isn't a fluffy Parent Trap-esque book. The romance happens for the girls, not the parents.Happily, the romance wasn't the main plot point. It was a subplot to the main plot of two stressed out athletes needing a month away from their families.

Sloane Emily's family is a mess. She walked in on her father having an affair with his assistant, and suddenly that assistant is everywhere-even in Sloane Emily's thoughts. Her mother is clueless about the affair and Emily isn't about to clue her in on it. Her brother, James is working with the political party, who their father is NOT affiliated with.

Sloane Devon's family is a mess too. Her mother is a raging alcoholic, who is in rehab, her father is trying to parent her as a single father but is failing big time. Add that to Sloane Devon's temper and there's a recipe for disaster.

A lot of people are going to take issue with the fact that it seemed like they had no problems with switching and that they seemed to do well in sports that they weren't previously focused on.I don't find that as much of an issue mostly because they do have the background of being on the ice. They just have to get used to using different equipment. For Sloane Emily, that's pucks and hockey sticks and lots of body armor. For Sloane Devon, that's ice skates.

Nando and Matt were two good additions to the story. I did prefer Matt, mostly because I didn't feel it between Sloane Devon and Nando. I did feel major sparks between Matt and Sloane Emily though. They were completely adorable.Matt was so determined to prove that he was no longer a playboy like he had been in the past.

There always has to be some sort of rival in books like this but I was bored with Melody. I fully expected her to pull some crazy stuff like Ivy did.Yet, she didn't and that kind of bored me.Melody just seemed like the typical ultra-competitive player who talked a big talk but when it came right down to it, she was not going to risk her place at camp to go after Sloane Emily.

Alternating POV's was great and overall I preferred Sloane Devon's. There were many times that I busted out laughing so hard I was crying while reading her POV.

"And as much as the thought of Ivy finding a mouse in her bed thrills me, I really should just open the box and eat the brownies." Sloane Devon

She was everything that I could want in a likable character. She was laugh out loud funny, which was one of my favorite things about her.

"The only thing that's keeping me from smothering Ivy in her sleep is that I'm convinced that she would haunt me if I did." Sloane Devon

I do think that Sloane Emily was the one who changed the most by the end of the book.I ended up liking her a whole lot more than I had initially.Yet it was Sloane Devon's family that made the most changes to themselves by the end of the book and that alone made me cry quite a bit at the end.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book, loved the characters a lot. I would love to give this book a full five stars but I didn't get many feels while reading this, which bummed me out. I also didn't feel like I got to see enough of Sloane Emily's personality. If I had gotten to see more of her personality, I think I would have liked her more.So this book will be getting 4 stars.