Confessions of a Not It Girl [Paperback]

Melissa Kantor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 2006

High school is never easy . . . and when you are suffering from a hubris complex and are convinced that the gods on Olympus have focused their attention on you, things are sure to get even harder. In this smart and sassy debut novel, the spotlight is on Jan Miller-a self-labeled "Not It" girl struggling to find out what and who she wants. From her best friend, who is an It girl, to her parents, who are way too embarrassing to her crushes (who always seem to be in the right place at the wrong time), there is never a dull moment for Jan. With college application deadlines looming and a group of seemingly vindictive gods ready to sabotage her every move, Jan is about to set off on a memorable trip through senior year and prove that being a "Not It" girl has some major rewards. From first-time author Melissa Kantor comes a fresh and witty look at senior year from the perspective of one girl convinced she is everything but "It." Melissa Kantor teaches at a high school in Brooklyn, New York, where she lives with her husband. This is her first novel.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Besides being named after an obscure Renaissance painter (turning the name "Jan" into "Yahn,") and having a butt so big that it "belongs in the Guinness Book of World Records," high school senior Jan Miller also has the dubious honor of being best friends with Rebecca Larkin, recently named one of CHIC magazine’s New York "IT" Girls. Add a ridiculously huge crush on new-boy hottie Josh Gardner to this list of woes and sympathetic readers can see why "life would be so much simpler if guys were like mood rings, and they changed color when they liked you." It will take more than just Rebecca’s easy assurances and a few pints of Ben & Jerry’s for Jan to come to terms with her own inner "It" girl (or lack thereof).

Even though she incorporates some pretty clever turns of phrase ("I could not seize the mantle of power. I could not even seize the training bra of power.") high school teacher-turned-author Melissa Kantor doesn't do much else to distinguish her first novel from the hot-pink jacketed reads that seem to giggle loudly from bookstore shelves these days. Female teen readers who want more books like Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries or Jacqueline Wilson's Girls in Love series won't be disappointed in Confessions, but Kantor will need to move beyond the "plain girl who makes good" plot if she wants her witty writing noticed. A passable debut, but the Kantor has the potential to do better. --Jennifer Hubert --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-10-Jan Miller is a fresh, funny, and real teen seeking her first romance during her senior year in high school. Her parents are New York intellectuals who seem only vaguely aware of what is going on with their children. Jan obsesses about the college applications she has not yet begun; the size of her butt; and Josh, who has returned after many years in Seattle with his father to live with his mother. Most of this melodrama is shared with her friend Rebecca, who is gorgeous, rich, and sophisticated; has recently been named an "It Girl" in a teen magazine; and has considerably more sexual experience than Jan, who has absolutely none. The teen's daydreams about her romantic life are theatrical scenarios with dialogue, stage directions, and curtain closings, an entertaining gimmick that harks back to the first real interaction she and Josh have, during a Romeo and Juliet reading in English class. Clumsy and self-deprecating, witty and smart, Jan struggles with her feelings and her nerves, and comes through a winner on the very last page. Lots of fun, lots of truth, very satisfying.-Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System, FL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (May 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786818085
• ISBN-13: 978-0786818082
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #719,640 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #76 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Issues > Popularity

More About the Author

Five fun facts about me:
1. The first time I ever kissed a boy, I made a complete fool out of myself. Right before we kissed, the boy asked, "Have you ever kissed anyone before?" I said, "No. Have you?" He said, "Yes." Then I said, "Oh, I forgot. I have too."
2. I'm a Capricorn.
3. I used to unbend a paper clip and put it on my teeth like a retainer because I wanted braces.
4. I didn't learn how to make a grilled cheese sandwich until I was in college. (Does anyone know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich? They're actually kind of hard to make!)
5. I failed Spanish.
Come read the first chapters of all my books for free at melissakantor.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious Kantor Banter, April 21, 2004

By 

Little Willow (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of a Not it Girl (Hardcover)

Confessions of a Not It Girl starts off with a quiz, introducing you to Jan Miller. Jan, named after a favorite artist, is supposed to be pronounced "Yahn," but does not correct people when they call her "Jan." In fact, she prefers it.

Thankfully, neither she nor this book are a "Yahn." Jan's series of adventures in babysitting lead her to fall for her charge's older brother -- a male classmate that Jan hadn't looked twice at before. Suddenly, he's the object of her affection. Jan must balance this new crush with school, college applications and procrastinations, not to mention her best friend being named a New York "It Girl."

Kudos to Melissa Kantor for giving us a teen romantic comedy that is both funny and clean. The writing is fresh and modern without relying too heavily on pop culture references, so it will stand the test of time. It will appeal to adults and teenagers alike, as Jan is G-rated enough for the younger set but she is also fumbling and quirky enough for the twentysomethings trying to make their way through.

If you like the lively pace of books like Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen, The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot and the Gossip Girl series, you will love Confessions of a Not It Girl. Give it a try and you'll find yourself laughing almost immediately.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, January 28, 2006

By 

LolaChanel "G" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of a Not it Girl (Hardcover)

Jan's your regular girl who thinks her butt is way too big and has insecurities just like the rest of us. mostly because her best friend's an IT girl, and well jan isn't. where it starts getting interesting is when Josh comes back from Seattle and into Jan's life. she quickly falls for him but she thinks that he's got a girlfriend back in Seattle and drama ensues. this is a fun, easy read set in New York with a main character we can all relate to.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Unimpressive, but harmless teen novel, February 21, 2005

By 

Anonymous (new york, ny United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Confessions of a Not it Girl (Hardcover)

Confessions Of A Not-It Girl definitely has an eye-catching cover and a clever title. This is what led me to purchase it on an impulse buy during my latest visit to the book store.

However, the story itself -- if one dares to call it that -- didn't live up to the expectations that it promised. Given the title and the fact that author Melissa Kantor is a high school teacher, I expected this to be a fun story, told from the point of view of an outside, on the dynamics of the high school experience. What I got, however, was a 250-page whiny rant from a rich, spoiled, teen princess.

Don't get me wrong -- Ms. Kantor is a fantastic writer. Her descriptions are vivid and her dialogue is spot-on. Where she failed, though, was in creating LIKEABLE characters. Jan, the narrator, is just completely uninteresting. She has no hobbies, no interests, no ambitions, no PASSSIONS, other than snagging Josh, her current crush. She half-heartedly attends school and applies for colleges, mainly to get her parents off of her back. But while this is understandable (after all, how many teens really enjoy school?), it's her self-centerdness that really bugged me. This girl came from a relatively wealthy, stable family, yet all she did was drone on and on about her love life. Getting makeup on her chin was a major crisis; for teens who've dealt with much more serious problems, her shallowness was laughable. At first, I related to her, but after about 20 pages of hearing her bitch about her big butt, I wanted to tape her mouth shut.

I could've forgiven her actions had there been more to the character, but she was just boring. Other teen books feature young women obssessing over their crushes -- that's natural -- but what sets them apart from this one is that the characters come alive off of the page. Look at the Traveling Pants series, or any of Meg Cabot's books, for example. The girls in those novels dream of love and being popular, but they also have interests and stories that take them beyond the high school arena. Those works had an extra "something" to them - that element that took them from being a generic story about high school life to being books worth talking about.

Kantor has a bright future ahead of her. Like I said, she's obviously talented and has a great idea of what teen life is like. She just needs to come up with a decent story to back up her abilities.