Customer Reviews

Getting the Girl: A Guide to Private Investigation, Surveillance, and Cookery

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

 

 

The thing about mysteries is that the writing can be absolutely stellar, but if the big reveal sucks, the whole book seems pointless. That is the central problem about Getting the Girl. Mack is an awesome narrator, the kind of guy you think doesn't really exist in real life. The whole story is incredibly unique and convoluted (in a good way). I'm reading this and thinking, "Wow. Susan Juby sure has gone a long way since Alice, I Think." And then, in a totally anticlimactic way, the Defiler is revealed, and it all seems like a waste of time. Why bother? It was nothing shocking, nothing to provoke thought, nothing that would warrant an emotional response of any kind. I was having so much fun theorizing, only to have it be the most boring result possible. Yawn. And the thing is, there are so many great characters she's created that could and would have been better as the perp, and she doesn't pick any of them. What if it had been Vanessa? Or Dini herself? How much more amazing would that have been to read? So, good writing, good characters, but horribly flat ending that really reveals nothing at all about the problems in the high school hierarchy.

Rating: 4/5

Sherman Mack is one of the funniest voice I've read lately, and this whole story has the quirk-factor turned on high. I don't know if an actual high school freshman (especially one who mixes his words (expired for aspired and that sort of thing)) could come up with some of his zingers, but they made me laugh all the same. Sherman's mom is a glitter-loving burlesque dancer, his male role model and mentor is a gardening neighbor who likes to tipple, and he has a collection of unusual, wonderful individuauls as both teachers and friends.

He enjoys his cooking class, gets crushes on a number of girls, finds himself embroiled in a mystery, tangles with the popular jocks and consults with his Law & Order (the TV show) loving friend Vanessa. Vanessa is a wonderful piece of work -- maybe she'll get a book of her own.

I wish the subtitle didn't mention Private Investigation and Surveillance, as I didn't feel the plot was really the strongest point of the book. The real strength is in the characters. I enjoyed a great many laughs, and "met" some kids and adults I wish I'd known in high school. If there were a category for 4-and-one-half stars, that's what I'd give this book.

Sherman Mack just started 9th grade at Harewood Technical High School and even though it means he can now pursue "older women," the social hierarchy at Harewood is pretty terrifying. Every once in a while a girl's photo appears on the bathroom mirrors with a big D on it. The D stands for Defiled, and once you're on the D-List, there is no way to recover from social leprosy. No one talks to you, looks at you, acknowledges your existence: you disappear. But this doesn't sit well with Sherman, especially when he thinks the girl he's interested in might be the next one to be defiled. With the help of his friend Vanessa's detective books and a few tips from Law & Order, Sherman starts an official investigation. But the defilers, whoever they are, aren't the type of people you mess with, and it's not long before Sherman worries not only about his own social stature, but that of his closest friends as well.

While at times Getting the Girl verges on corny, Juby's characters are likable and funny, and the mystery really doesn't reveal itself until the very end. Social politics in high school is a very real issue, and while a cliche in teen fiction, Juby's approach is new and refreshing. On the whole, Getting the Girl is delightful and fun, a good read for guys and gals.

Sherman Mack likes sophomore Dini Trioli. He thinks he stands a chance with her; at least he thought he did, until uber-cool Lester Broadside moves in and shows an interest in her. Sherman gives up his dream of Dini until he thinks she's on a collision course of being D-listed. D- Listed = defiled.

At Harewood Tech, there is an unspoken tradition of girls being D-listed. Simultaneously, pictures appear in the bathrooms and the photographed girl is marked as bad news, forever tainted and shunned at the school. With his precious Dini possibly marked, Sherman takes on the job of secret surveillance to uncover who is behind the defiling.

Sherman enlists the aid of a ragtag group of friends. He is convinced Lester is behind the defiling, and seeks out girls who have been D-listed in the past. Everything comes to an unbelievable conclusion at a dinner party Sherman has to host at school.

I LOVED Sherman Mack. He's the epitome of freshman geek-turned-cool-guy by the end of the story. I'm dating myself here, but I can picture a young Anthony Michael Hall (think Sixteen Candles) portraying Sherman in a movie version. Just picturing someone like that hiding in Ben's mother's closet with the Trophy Wives trying on clothes and shoes makes me laugh out loud even now.

GETTING THE GIRL was originally published as a hardcover in 2008 but was re-released in paperback in 2010. Whichever version you pick up, be prepared for a fun romp of freshman boy detecting!

Reviewed by: Jaglvr

Harewood Tech is just like every high school. It has it's pretty and popular girls, it's nerds, it's drama geeks...everyone, really. Except it has one extra group. The Defiled. At Harewood Tech, being Defiled is the worst fate that can befall a girl. It happens when, someone (no one knows who), posts a girl's picture in the bathroom with the letter "D" on it. From then on, that girl is a social leper. Because, of course, everyone starts to ignore and shun her.

The horrible act of defiling has gone on unchallenged for a pretty loonnnng time. That is, until Sherman Mack (a geeky, yet original, freshman learns that his crush, the beautiful and nice, Dini Trioli(despite the fact that Dini will neverever see him as a potential boyfriend..), might be next up on the list to be Defiled. And of course, Sherman doesn't want that to happen.

All it takes is the urging of his good friend, Vanessa, and Sherman Mack is investigating the who, the what and the why behind the Defiled.

I've always been kind of iffy with authors writing in first person from a perspective of the opposite gender of themselves. Oftentimes, it just comes off as completely and utterly unnatural. However, in Getting the Girl, Susan Juby's Sherman Mack is hilarious, realistic and completely easy to relate to. He's quirky, funny and as he relays the story of this investigation, he leaves nothing out. Even his fantasies about random female characters in the book.

The story idea itself, well, it's pretty terrific. There are many books on the hierarchy of high school; however, I think this one is one of my favorites. The problem is tackled uniquely and hilarity ensues along the way. I was laughing out-loud as I read Getting the Girl!

Along with Sherman Mack, Susan Juby's cast of characters is widespread and varied. Sherman's mother is a bartender who has a thing for burlesque dancing. Definitely not your typical mother...

His friends, those he has and those he meets along the way, all add extra flavor to the book. From the Trophy Wives that he befriends (or who befriend him) to his friend Vanessa, every single character is vital to the novel. Sherman's developing relationship with Vanessa is particularly interesting to read about...

I really don't have any qualms at all with Getting the Girl! Buy it, now!

There is only one thing--one girl, to be more specific--on Sherman Mack's mind as he starts his freshmen year Harewood Tech, and that is Dini Trioli. But the unlikelihood of her ever recognizing short, geeky Sherm as a datable guy increases when she starts going out with the most popular senior in their school. That doesn't discourage him though, because it's not long before he finds evidence that Dini might be Defiled--the ultimate humiliation for any girl at Harewood. Lives have been ruined by the Defiler, who cleverly destroys a girl's social standing just by posting a few pictures in bathrooms with the letter D on them, causing his fellow classmates to do the rest by ostracizing the girl.

Sherm is outraged that anyone would ever dream of Defiling Dini, so under the influence of his friend Vanessa, he launches a crazy, risky, and hilarious investigation, only looking for the person responsible for ruining Dini. But the forces that are the Defilers are more powerful than Sherm realizes, and he finds himself taking on more than he anticipated. But with the help of his eccentric friends, a book on private investigating, and his excellent cooking skills, he might just make social history.

Susan Juby, who became known for her wit and intelligence is her Alice series and her sensitivity and humor in Another Kind of Cowboy, emulates a truly authentic and reachable character in Sherm, who doesn't shy around the nitty-gritty details, no matter how embarrassing or personal. Her knack for creating the most outrageous and zany characters and circumstances with the utmost seriousness punctuates her story with reality perfectly.

The mystery aspect of the novel was kept unnecessarily uncomplicated, but readers will have to pay real sharp attention to the details in order to catch all the tiny hints and clues that are easy to miss. The final showdown is a surprising and tiny bit dragged out, but it works nicely with the flow of the book and the effect is true to the voice and characters of the novel. Full of quirks, laughs, and a dash of serious social problems, Getting the Girl is one book that you won't want to miss.