The Boy Recession

The Boy Recession
Author(s)
Publisher
Age Range
12+
Release Date
August 07, 2012
ISBN
031610213X
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Where have all the boys gone?

Down-to-earth Kelly is always the friend and never the girlfriend. But as her junior year of high school starts, Kelly is determined to finally reveal her true feelings for her long-time crush and good friend Hunter - that is, until the Boy Recession hits.

Over the past summer, an overwhelming number of male students have left Kelly and Hunter's small high school class. Some were sent to private school and others moved away. Whatever the case, the sudden population shift has left the already small Julius P. Heil High in desperate shape. The football coach is recruiting chess champs for his team, the principal's importing male exchange students to balance out school dances,and Hunter is about to become an unexpected heartthrob.

Content with his role as the guitar-strumming, class-skipping slacker, Hunter is unprepared to be the center of attention. Desperate coaches are recruiting him for sports teams, and the drama teacher casts him in the lead role of the school musical. Even the Spandexers, powerful popular girls in tight pants, are noticing Hunter in a new light - with a little work, he could have potential. He might even be boyfriend material...

In order to stand out from the crowd and win Hunter's heart, Kelly needs a "stimulus package" in the form of cougar lessons from a senior girl who dates hot freshman boys and advice on the male mind from her Cosmo-addicted best friend, Aviva. As if dating wasn't hard enough without a four-to-one ratio!

Where have all the boys gone?

Down-to-earth Kelly is always the friend and never the girlfriend. But as her junior year of high school starts, Kelly is determined to finally reveal her true feelings for her long-time crush and good friend Hunter - that is, until the Boy Recession hits.

Over the past summer, an overwhelming number of male students have left Kelly and Hunter's small high school class. Some were sent to private school and others moved away. Whatever the case, the sudden population shift has left the already small Julius P. Heil High in desperate shape. The football coach is recruiting chess champs for his team, the principal's importing male exchange students to balance out school dances,and Hunter is about to become an unexpected heartthrob.

Content with his role as the guitar-strumming, class-skipping slacker, Hunter is unprepared to be the center of attention. Desperate coaches are recruiting him for sports teams, and the drama teacher casts him in the lead role of the school musical. Even the Spandexers, powerful popular girls in tight pants, are noticing Hunter in a new light - with a little work, he could have potential. He might even be boyfriend material...

In order to stand out from the crowd and win Hunter's heart, Kelly needs a "stimulus package" in the form of cougar lessons from a senior girl who dates hot freshman boys and advice on the male mind from her Cosmo-addicted best friend, Aviva. As if dating wasn't hard enough without a four-to-one ratio!

User reviews

2 reviews
Overall rating
 
3.7
Plot
 
3.5(2)
Characters
 
3.5(2)
Writing Style
 
4.0(2)
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
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The Boy Recession
Overall rating
 
3.7
Plot
 
N/A
Characters
 
N/A
Writing Style
 
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Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
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This book was pretty cute and I found it to be a quick read. I did like the book. It was pretty short and at times was pretty funny. I found myself laughing at times because of some of the things the characters said. I just wish the characters and the romance could have been a little more developed.?

A lot of the characters were either annoying, just plain nasty or completely clueless. I think the only one I really liked was Hunter. He was funny and did his own thing without caring what anybody thought. When he wanted to do something he did it and when he didn't want to do something he wouldn't. I wish the other characters could have been more like that instead. I found Kelly to be a little too whiny and she tended to get on my nerves. She was always unhappy about something, whether it was not having a boyfriend or even when she did have a boyfriend, who was totally sweet and polite, she wasn't happy because it wasn't Hunter, who already had a girlfriend!

The romance in this novel seemed a little forced as well. The characters go from only being friends and talking occasionally to full on crushing on each other in a few days. That really bothered me. It's like nobody put any thought into romance but then just decided to put two characters together just for the fun of it.

All in all it was a cute book. I liked it for the most part once I could get past the issues that I had with the story, characters etc. I really wish that I could have enjoyed it a little more.
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A funny, light read.
(Updated: September 30, 2012)
Overall rating
 
3.7
Plot
 
N/A
Characters
 
N/A
Writing Style
 
N/A
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
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When all the jocks transfer to a different school. Julius P. Heil High finds itself in a bit of a boy recessions. The poor teen girls, aren't really sure what to do. They end up finding the misfits a not so bad replacement for their absent sex gods. Hunter can't believe that this is actually working in Eugene's favor. How can these girls really be interested in him, when before they wouldn't have spoken two words? Kelly is mostly upset that not only is it a boy recession but budget cuts that plague the school. That means no more band. Then Hunter suggests that they do peer band and teach third graders how to play instruments. Kelly jumps at the chance to have band back. She also doesn't mind spending some time with Hunter. She's not the only one who wants some face time with him. A boy has become a hot commodity at Julius P. Heil, and Hunter is in high demand in lots of places. Kelly doesn't want to lose him to the heard, but some girls play for keeps and will stop at nothing to sink their teeth into the boys that are left. Hunter is just going with the flow, even when the flow takes him places he doesn't particularly enjoy.

This was a cute book. There were quite a few funny moments in the book. I love how blown out of proportion the boy recession is. Everything is extra dramatic, but not quite over the top. Kelly and Hunter were sort of outside looking in at all the madness. They each had a friend who was ensnared in the hysteria. Luckily, both Kelly and Hunter managed to keep a cool head while things around them were chaos.

This was a fun concept, and a great setting. A small town losing most of it's football team, including it's coach would definitely be a big deal in a small town like this one. People also would notice when a handful of attractive guys left. In a city, there would hardly be a wrinkle.

Hunter had a lot of surprising qualities about him which were nice to see as the story progresses. When we first meet him, he is the very definition of slacker. Not that he is not a slacker at the end, but maybe less of one. He ends up with a lot on his plate. Kelly was an agreeable character. She won't stand out in my mind at all, but she fit into the story nicely and I didn't feel irritated by her, so that was good. Diva though, I couldn't stand. She was psychotic. Completely in her own world that could not be interrupted by logical thought or other people's wants and needs. I'm glad I didn't have to put up with her for too long.

This was another fun read by Flynn Meaney. I think I still enjoyed Bloodthirsty more, but this one had me laughing too. I can't wait to see what she has in store for us next.

First Line:
"'When are you gonna get off your lazy ass and get a job?' Eugene asks me."

Favorite Lines:
"The kid went down so hard, I'm telling you. According to Chung, who was right there next to them, there was this crunch sound, like what you hear when you sit on a bag of pretzels. That was Eugene's collarbone."
Good Points
This book was pretty funny.
Hunter was a great character.
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