Customer Reviews

All American Girl

5 star:		(219)
4 star:		(57)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Samantha Madison is what you would call an outcast. She's somewhat of a goth/artist. Her best friend, Catherine, wears clothes from like the 1800's, she's in love with her older sister Lucy's boyfriend, and her younger sister is a certified genius.

When Lucy tells their parents that Samantha is charging people to have their picture drawn with their favorite celebrity her parents enroll her in art class, where she meets David, and is humiliated on her first day, which causes her to ditch her next art lesson, and end up being in the right place at the right time to save the president's life. Which immediatley throws Samantha into a whirlwind of popularity and press conferences. Not to mention that the president's son may be falling in love with her. How could someone's life go from so normal to so crazy?

Meg Cabot has another hit with "All American Girl." Obviously she can write on any topic, and this one was original and refreshing compared to the other teen/young adult books out right now. This is a must read for all fans of "The Princess Diaries." A lot of teenage girls will be able to relate completely to Samantha.

All-American Girl is absolutely a Must-Read! However, in this book 5'2, sophomore, teenage, and artistic girl Samantha Madsion goes through MANY changes! Like when she ditches her second art class at the Susan Boone Gallery (because of drawing in her German notebook and her mom putting her on probation to take a class of art), she actually sees the president of the United States!
The president was walking in this Cookie store with his "security guard-men", so this Billy Joel fan guy near Sam takes this gun out of his coat and then...KABLAM!!! Technically, the "Kablam!" wasn't what happened at all. Instead, Sam saves the president by making the Billy Joel fan assasssinator shoot his gun in a different direction!
Since the guy was heavy, he landed on top of Sam and she injuries her wrist. So these people come and take her to the hospital. And then Miss Samantha's life changes forever! By becoming a hero, totally popular and famous, becomes US Teen Ambassador, gets invited by her enemy's party, and even the president's son David falls in love with her!
There are some big surprises and laughs and dramatic moments in this American book too! Sam's life goes good to bad then so on.... But, I had also liked when Meg Cabot dedicated this novel to the heroes of the September 11th attack!
I was impressed, all right! So All-American Girl is one of the best Young Adult Books to get at the library or at the bookstore. It might have been really different than Cabot's Princess Diaries series, but this book was better, to be honest. I mean, she put some good things in it. Like things about art. The "listening and hearing" and the "seeing and imagining" parts was pretty creative, in fact. If you like books about love, semi-drama, laughs, surprises, and especially about America, then you'll this book.

All-American Girl was a fairly fun read. It had humor, romance, and the general angst of being a fifteen year old girl. It read quickly and provided me with some cheap, easy entertainment. The best thing about this book was all the background characters and many subplots- like when Sam has to choose the winning painting for a national contest, and when she meets Susan Boone at the art studio.
The problem is that it's so much like the books from The Princess Diaries series: something drastic changes the life of and ordinary, flat-chested girl, who has to juggle her new fame as well as the normal issues of being a teen. The main character, Sam Madison, thinks she loves one guy, then in the end discovers that someone else is meant for her. Surprise, surprise.
And the voice of the story screamed Mia Thermopolis. Both girls wallow in their own self-pity and use a confusing mixture of sophisticated and dreadful language. Meg Cabot made some clever changes when she created Sam, such as making her an artist and a middle child with somewhat normal parents-but still, Sam and Mia were a lot alike.
I'd say you should pick up this book at the library or borrow it from a friend first, and then if you see yourself re-reading it, by all means go buy it. I've read it twice, the second time for the quirky little details, like all of Sam's Top Ten lists, and my conclusion is: this book is enjoyable but nothing new.

"All-American Girl" is the brand new book written by Meg Cabot, also the author of the famous series for teen girls, "The Princess Diaries".

PLOT SUMMARY: 15-year-old Samantha Madison lives in Washington DC with her mother, father, and two sisters (she's the middle child). Sam describes herself as total redheaded outcast--always dressing in black, listening to punk/rock music, etc. Her older sister, Lucy, is the most popular girl (cheerleader, nonetheless) at her high school and is dating the guy of Sam's dreams, high school rebel, Jack Ryder. Sam's younger sister, Rebecca, is a genius who attends a special school for gifted children. Sam's life abruptly changes when she saves the president of the United States from an assassination...while cutting her art lessons. Not only does Sam receive a broken arm, but she also becomes famous when the president himself announces that she is teen ambassador to the UN. Things couldn't get worse, right? Wrong! Because now she thinks the president's own son, David, may be in love with her and all she wants is for Jack to love her!

OVERALL THOUGHTS: I'm a little old for Meg Cabot's teen books but I must say that I am always amazed by her well-written/described characters and witty sense of humor. This book is well-written, and should be enjoyed by all teenage girls. If you like romantic-comedy novels with a little bit of fantasy twisted into it, then you should definitely read "All-American Girl". The plots are always simple, straight-forward, and a little bit predictable but it doesn't matter because these books are too good not to read.

I highly recommend "All-American Girl" by Meg Cabot.

Score:
98/100
A+

Samantha Madison thinks she doesn't fit into her family because she has an older sister who is the most popular girl in school and a younger sister who is a certified genius. She just been caught selling celebrity portraits at school in her German notebook which she is making a C-minus in. Now she is being forced to take art classes. She's just been appointed teen appointed teen ambassador of the UN. And...the prsidents son just might be i love with her!!
The reason I like this book is because alot of the things that happen people can relate to. I also like all the conflicts that go on with her and her friends. It is an awesome book and keeps you interested in the book.

Samantha "Sam" has definite theories about middle children and knows that they are all messed up, just like her. While her older sister, Lucy, is busy being Miss Popularity as a high school cheerleader and great dresser, her younger sister, Rebecca, is a total brain and goes to a special private school for way accelerated learning, Sam is spending her time dying her whole wardrobe black in protest and trying to devise ways to convince Jack, Lucy's boyfriend, that he is really in love with her. In her spare time, Sam draws portraits of her classmates with famous movie stars and makes pretty good money, too, until Lucy rats her out. The next thing she knows, Sam is stuck in this stupid art class where the teacher keeps telling her to "see" and acts like she is the worst artist ever.

After the first humiliating class, Sam is determined never to return, so she hides in the CD store downstairs until her housekeeper comes to pick her up. She notices a suspicious guy, whom she calls Mr. Uptown Girl on account of his listening to Billy Joel's hit umpteen times while she is waiting and thinks its pretty weird that he is waiting outside her art class, but whatever. Much to her surprise, he pulls out a gun and tries to shoot the president, who is just trying to buy a cookie, for heaven's sake, and then astounds everyone, herself included, when she tackles Mr. Uptown Girl and takes him down. Instant celebrity and hero status is conferred upon Sam and she finds herself dodging reporters, having dinner at the White House, and trying to figure out what the heck is going on with David, the president's son. Sam immediately recognizes David from her art class and is desperate to keep him from mentioning that she skipped class the previous week, but David doesn't seem to care that much. He does seem interested in her, though, but her heart is already taken, isn't it?

This is just a great story by Meg Cabot - I was laughing the whole way through. Sam is a riot and it is so funny to go through her thought processes and see why she is doing what she does. It was also a great story because Sam really learns to "see" and that it is okay to be normal and follow rules once in a while. With a great cast of supporting characters and lots of hilarious, if improbable moments, this book is a must read!

Samantha Madison knows she's destined for ruin. Not only is she the middle child,(everyone knows the middle child gets the least attention)but she just also happens to have a cheerleader, older sister Lucy, who has got one CUTE boyfriend and, her little sister just happens to be a certified genuis. When her parents send her to a professional artist, Susan Boone, so she can express her artistic ability, instead of drawing movie hunks in German class(which by the way she is failing)Samantha is sure all her family is against her. So nothing else can go wrong right?Not! She becomes the whole laughting stock of the art class, because Susan keeps saying she doesn't "see" what she draws and guess who throws a fit? Oh, yeah did we mention that this idiotic guy named David makes a cute comment on her boots and Sam gets all blushy? Humiliated and angry Samantha cuts her art class and only happens to pounce on a guy with a gun and save the President's life, breaking her arm in the process. Suddenly Samantha finds herself thrust into the limelight, she so wants to escape. Everyone thinks she's a hero, even though she knows she is far from one. Coke and Pepsi want her to sponser their soda, Barbara Walters wants to interview her, and she is made Teen Ambassador to the UN. What could get worse? How about she finds out the president's son, turns out to be David, and he might just be in love with her?

Meg Cabot has once again showed us that she can make a good book out of any topic. I loved her Princess Diaries books and I think I like All-American Girl even more. It is so sweet. I can't wait for All-American Girl 2!

This was a great book. Any of you that have read Meg Cabot's "Princess Diaries", I assure you, its not as gross.

Samantha Madison lives in Washington DC with Lucy her popular cheerleader sister and Rebecca, an annoying genius. She's in love with her sisters boyfriend and ever since the "celebrity drawings" she has to take Susan Boone's art class. To top it all off, she saved the President of the United States from an assasination attempt. Now everyone thinks shes a hero.

Her life definetly changes. She is appointed teen ambassador to the UN and she meets the presidents son-David. Who also happens to be VERY cute.

This is a story where Samantha, or Sam learns how to truly "See" and learns about true love. I highly recommend it. A good book for teens. Its funny and touching. Read it!

There have been a few attempts at the president's life before. It happens. But what happens if you are there when it happens, and then decide to take out the assassin before he hits the president? Well a lot of things. First of all you get your arm broken. Second, you become an instant hero. Third, you get invited to the president's house for dinner and become "teen ambassador to the UN". Lastly, you find out that the cute boy in your art class happens to be the president's son. All of this happens to fortunate, (or unfortunate) Samantha Madison in All-American Girl.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I had to put it down every few pages and go downstairs to pace myself, only to come back up a minute later. I couldn't exactly relate to Sam, (since I've never saved the Presidents life before, let alone seen the President in real life color) by I enjoyed looking at her story as an on looker. The only thing was that it was a bit like The Princess Diaries series (also by Meg Cabot) (which I also enjoyed), but it was unique enough that although I noticed it, I didn't care.

All in all, a great book!

Samantha Madison thinks that nothing good is going to happen to her. She is the middle child and her folks think that it would help her to go to a art class to help her from drawing during German class.

After Sam finds out that she has to go to art class twice a week she thinks nothing in her life could get worse. Well things do get better well other people seem to think so, but for Sam things are just going down hill.

When Sam stops a madman from trying to kill the President she is an instant hero and overnight celebrity. Everyone is talking about Sam and wanting to know more about her. But Sam doesn't see saving the President as something that big, it was just something she did and she isn't ready to be overnight sensasion everyone wants her to be.

As time goes on and she has more things to do then worry about being the middle child. She has to deal with being the teen advisor to the UN and dealing with all the people wanting to know if she prefers Coke to Pepsi and all the reporters wanting to get interviews. Sam just wants to live a normal life. But is hard for her to do when she spends time with the Presidents son David.

As time goes on things in Sam's life calm and she starts to realize that everything isn't so bad and things will work themselves out.

This was a very cute book. I've enjoyed all the princess diaries books and was happy to say I enjoyed this one just as much. The charactors were great and the story moved along at a good pace. I hope Meg Cabot keeps up the good writing.