Fancy White Trash [Hardcover]

Marjetta Geerling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2008

Finding love is simple with the One True Love Plan.

?If only life were as easy as your sisters.? Abby?s heard that one before. And it?s true ?Shelby and Kait aren?t exactly prim and proper. Abby is determined not to follow in their footsteps, so she has created the One True Love Plan. The most important part of the plan is Rule #1: Find Someone New. This means finding a guy who hasn?t already dated Shelby or Kait. But when Abby starts falling for the possible father of Kait?s baby, she has to figure out if some rules are meant to be broken.

This debut novel, a modern comedy of errors, is as lighthearted and irreverant as its title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up—Fifteen-year-old Abby Savage has always thought of herself as the "normal" one in a household that more closely resembles a soap-opera cast than a real family. It's the summer before sophomore year, and, with her best friend Cody's help, Abby is determined to follow her One True Love Plan (formulated to avoid the mistakes of her sisters Shelby and Kait). Then Mom announces that she is pregnant by her new husband, Steve, a younger man who also happens to be the father of Kait's unborn child. Things become even more complicated when Cody's older brother, Jackson, returns home. Last spring, Abby thought she was falling in love with him, but she now distances herself because she's obsessed by the possibility that he could be the father of Kait's child (Kait dated Jackson before Steve). This somewhat farcical account of the Savage women is told in a witty, toned-down Meg Cabot style. The novel moves breathlessly from one family drama to the next—often in front of the neighbors—and touches on some heavy topics along the way, most notably Cody's attempt to come out of the closet. While there's no fairy-tale ending, the story's central romantic conflict is tied up a bit too tidily. Still, the likable main character and fast-paced storytelling will appeal to fans of Aimee Friedman's The Year My Sister Got Lucky (Scholastic, 2008) and Meg Cabot's Pants on Fire (HarperCollins, 2007).—Amy S. Pattee, Simmons College, Boston
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Review

[T]old in a witty, toned-down Meg Cabot style...the likable main character and fast-paced storytelling will appeal to fans of Aimee Friedman's The Year My Sister Got Lucky and Meg Cabot's Pants on Fire. --School Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile; 1 edition (May 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670010820
• ISBN-13: 978-0670010820
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,079,026 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marjetta Geerling lives in Miami Beach, FL with her artist/inventor husband, her dog, Jezebel, cat, Indiana Jones, and assorted fish too numerous to name. She grew up in Southern California and graduated from the Johnston Center for Integrated Studies at the University of Redlands where she designed her own major in Women's Culture and Creative Expression. She has lived in New Zealand, England, and New York, but although she loves to travel, thinks she's in Florida to stay.

FANCY WHITE TRASH is her first novel. It was named an American Library Association's 2009 Best Books for Young Adults and was placed on the 2009 Rainbow List.

A former elementary school teacher, Marjetta Geerling now teaches private writing classes and is currently at work on her M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Spalding University.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chaotic, Exuberant Fun, January 25, 2009

By 

Autumjn Nazarian (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fancy White Trash (Hardcover)

Two things happened to me when I read Fancy White Trash. First off, I was utterly charmed by Abby and her sincere determination to walk a life path in the opposite direction of her wayward sisters. The second thing was that by page two, I was captivated and on a rollercoaster of nonstop drama - some of it heartwarming, some of it heartbreaking and MUCH of it HILARIOUS. This book is packed tight with warmth and friendship and family, and at the core plays out the truths that you can't choose the family you're born into and you can't totally control life or love with a plan. Ultimately, the book did a great job of underlining a universal truth through a likeable character: The challenges you surmount and the power of the love and friendships that nurture you are the core of your strength and character.

Fancy White Trash is fast paced, funny and poignant. I definitely laughed out loud in several places. It's a great book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Proves White Trash can be Fun, January 21, 2010

By 

Karen Keyte (Cumberland, ME USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fancy White Trash (Hardcover)

The Rules for finding your One True Love, according to Abby Savage:

1.) Find Someone New

2.) No Baggage from Past Relationships Allowed

3.) Looks Aren't Everything

4.) Don't Need Him

5.) Get Out of Town.

If this approach seems a little structured, a little overly cautious, you should know that Abby has a very good reason for inventing the rules - after all, she is one of `those Savage girls.'

Abby learned everything she knows (or thinks she knows) about relationships and romance from making a study of soap operas and from watching the convoluted, doomed-to-failure flings and (very short term) commitments of her decidedly white trash mother and older sisters. She's determined to avoid the mistakes that led the elder three women in her house to teen pregnancies and an unbroken streak of failed marriages. Hence the One True Love plan

The only problem is, Abby's first love (and first heartbreak), Jackson, has just reappeared on the scene. He's not new and there's definitely baggage. He claims he loves her, really loves her, but there are those rules. If Abby sticks to her plan, Jackson is out, whether he's her one true love or not.

4.0 out of 5 stars Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling was an extremely fun read!, February 13, 2012

By 

Shana @ Sizzling Reads "SHANA @ Sizzling Read... (SACRAMENTO, CA, US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fancy White Trash (Hardcover)

Fancy White Trash by Marjetta Geerling was an extremely fun read! I couldn't resist that title, or that cover. I love when people can poke fun at themselves in a lighthearted way, and Fancy White Trash does just that. The characters were ridiculous, but come on, we all have people the like the Savage's in our family. Oh, only I do? Well, either way this book was a great way to turn a potentially awful situation, into a hilarious one. I laughed so hard sometimes I had to tell myself to be quiet. This book read like a real live soap opera, introducing situations you only hoped were made up and fantastic to read about. The plot was captivating and easy-going, taking the reader on a ride through the Savage's chaotic lives. The romance ended in a way that was both sweet and believable.

I loved Abby's five rules for falling in love, and I loved her personality. She wanted to be different from her sisters in every possible way, and her desperate need to find someone to love who was new, different, and didn't already date her mom and her sisters (yes, that happened!) was endearing and comical.

Overall, Fancy White Trash was like a Young-Adult soap opera, with enough to keep me laughing and smiling throughout the entire book. I'd definitely recommend this lighthearted and hilarious read for anyone looking for a good laugh!