Customer Reviews

Class Favorite

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You think Junior High is tough? Ha! It's nothing compared to Sara Thurman's eighth grade year! It all starts when Sara finally "becomes a woman" and - get this - her mother sends her - PERIOD flowers! On Valentine's Day! Yeah. You heard right. Ever try to keep a secret in Junior High? Only one person knows who sent those flowers besides Sara, and that's her best friend, Arlene. You can imagine Sara's hurt and confusion when she realizes everyone knows why she got the flowers. And it's only lunchtime!

You've heard of Murphy's Law? You know: If something can go wrong, it probably will. And it does for Sara. Things go from bad to worse. To top it off, she and Arlene have their first ever fight in front of everyone. How can she trust her best friend when Arlene's the only one who could have betrayed her?

Luckily for Sara, she's made a new friend. She met her that same fateful day that she received her red-tipped, white roses. Together, they vow to turn Sara's embarrassment into a nomination for class favorite. They watch the popular girls. They read magazines and clip out pictures and articles. Soon, they have a list of things Sara must do to become popular, which Sara follows faithfully. Will the popular kids notice her? Talk to her? Will her crush, Jason, like her new look? And will she and Arlene ever be friends again?

Taylor Morris has captured the heart of an eighth grader in CLASS FAVORITE. The characters were believable, although, at times, I felt they just as easily could have been sixth or seventh graders. I feel certain that any girl who has ever wished to be part of the popular crowd will totally relate to this book. And because it made me laugh out loud more than once, I give it five stars!

Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger

"Class Favorite" is a fantastic book for anyone who has ever felt somewhere between the popular clique and total invisibility. I really enjoyed Sara, the main character, because she is such a good observer of the kids around her and she learns how to handle situations both humiliating and exhilarating with equal finesse.

This book made me laugh all the way through. Perfect for girls 10 and up, especially those who don't QUITE fit in the way they want to--and those with a snarky sense of humor.

This story is wonderful for junior high girls especially, but a great read for anyone. The author handles some rather sticky situations with humor and grace as the main character deals with the ups and downs of growing up. Not your typical teen novel.

This book made me laugh out loud by myself AND in public. Sara Thurman is the perfectly imperfect hero of all the girls who feel like everyone else got the cliff notes on how to survive high school social life except for them. She's like the best parts of Tracy Flick and Amelia Bedelia combined. I love this book!

All that Sara Thurman wants is to be popular. Unfortunately for her, disaster after disaster (or as disastrous as middle school can get) comes her way. Sara keeps on getting publicly humiliated, which doesn't help her goal at all, or so she thinks.

It all starts when she "becomes a woman." Sara's mom finds this out and sends Sara flowers. Unfortunately, the flowers reach the wrong destination, Sara's middle school to be exact, and everyone finds out about Sara's secret. Sara puts all the blame on her best friend Arlene because Arlene was the only person she told the secret to. Soon, another friendship develops with the new girl Kirstie, who helps Sara create a list of everything that will help Sara become popular.

When I first read the cover of this book, I thought oh no, not another one of these. But I was glad when it turned out that the main character was not one of those popular girls with all their problems, but someone from the opposite end of the spectrum, the girl with few friends who wishes she was more popular. I also did not expect the ending of this novel, but it was better than the ending I expected.

Sara's character is very believable, and so are her issues dealing with her friends, family, school, and boys. There's a much drama as there can be in a middle school, but I found that some of Sara's issues were overdramatized. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this novel, including that popularity is overrated and that people aren't always who you expect them to be. I liked watching Sara grow and mature, and overall, this book was a good read. I recommend this for middle schoolers, and even if you are older, I think you can still enjoy this.

Sara Thurman never thought she was part of the popular crowd. When Sara's mom sends her a special Valentine's Day delivery to her school, all of the sudden her world spirals downhill. Everyone at Bowie Junior High now knows something about Sara. She's afraid her best friend Arlene spilled the beans about those special flowers sent to her school, and turns to make friends with the new girl, Kirstie.

In between the frequently hilarious, yet quite embarrassing pranks that are being played on her, Sara remains calm and catches the eye of her long-time crush Jason... who admits that he never really even noticed her before now.

While her heart is breaking over the big fight with Arlene, she and Kirstie decide that she should aim for the stars, and make it their secret goal to get her elected as class favorite for the 8th grade. Worst of all, nothing has been the same since Sara's dad left home, and she can't even remember what normal feels like anymore. It's all got her wondering about the popular crowd, would things be better for her if she were one of them?

Overall it was a great book. Sara takes all of the embarrassing mishaps with pride and integrity, keeping her cool when she really feels like she is about to explode on the inside. After she destroyed "The Ball", and had all of those humiliating products shoved up her locker... even Shiner seemed to help her out in her time of need, showing that friendship is truly a gift to be cherished. Taylor Morris adds witty Texas humor to this book, often referring to the Texas paraphernalia, like cowboy outfits and hillbilly's with boots.

The author adds a quiz to the book by starting each chapter with a question. It adds a nice touch where you can see Sara's transformation throughout the quiz.

This book is a great summer read and flowed along very quickly. Two thumbs up!

I loved this book. She had tons of embrassing things happen to her. That brings her closer to everyone except her bff because Sara blamed her for one bad thing. She got Jason, she forgave Kirsti and she didn't get Class Favorite but she was Class Courageous.

This is one of the best young adult books I've read! Sara is a sweet girl trying to make her way through those difficult junior high years. This book took me back to my junior high days. I felt all of Sara's emotions almost as if it was happening to me. This is a great book for young adults and even adults who want to re-live their junior high days.