Malibu Carmie [Hardcover]

Leah Komaiko (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2005 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Carmie Hoffman is ready for everything to change. She wants to lose 20 pounds and be a beautiful girl. She wants someone to think she’s special. She wants to move out of the Valley and stop worrying about her clinically depressed mother, who’s tired and sad almost all of the time. Then, out of nowhere, she sees her opening—when her best friend convinces her mother to drive them to Malibu Beach, Carmie’s tired, sad, and oh-so-old mom grabs a surfboard and impresses even the locals! That’s when Carmie learns that her mom had a secret life before Carmie—a life where she was a Malibu surfer. Carmie knows that she was meant to learn this. That she and her mom were meant to move to Malibu and form a surfing dynasty with some of the surfing legends her mom used to hang out with. In her movie notebook, Carmie writes herself a starring role as a glamorous, gorgeous surf star. But not everything is as easy as it is in the movies, and Carmie learns that her mom is a much more complicated and wonderful person than she ever knew.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 6-8. Chick lit jumps the wave (it may have jumped the shark) in this tale of a girl whose mother was a top surfer in a former life. Carmie only knows her mother, Elaine, as a hard-working single parent who suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome, but a fortuitous trip to Malibu gets Elaine back on board and in contact with the legendary surfer crowd with whom she used to hang (10). Included in this group is Elaine's surfer boyfriend, Moondohgie. (Yes, like Moondoggie in the Gidget movies. Apparently, there's only one name for surfer dudes). Surfer lingo soaks the pages: Carmie is "stoked"; events are "righteous." And why not? "Surf's up," so nothing is a "bummer." There are so many quick transitions here, it's hard to hold on to the plot, but the ambience will sweep away girls--especially the landlocked, who will feel free to romanticize. A story that's as light as sea foam. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"This is a really wonderful book about finding your self esteem and your way.  I loved the mother.  I loved Carmie.  They were so real and vulnerable and right on.  It made me long for Malibu and mother-daughter relationships and the days the surfer legends had at easier, softer times.  I sent it to my God-daughter who has struggled with self esteem and I said, "here it is, Babe.  Your summer read.  Read this!""
--Jamie Lee Curtis

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (May 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385731728
• ISBN-13: 978-0385731720
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,773,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars If you are older than 14, do not buy this., August 26, 2007

By 

Kris (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Malibu Carmie (Mass Market Paperback)

I thought this book was going to be a really good summer read. Well, it is not very good. Its a book tht's meant for, well, little girls i would say. It's meant for pre-teens or anyone who is about 11-13. The language is so juvenile, and the way the girls act is really young and immature like children. I was disappointed because I thought it would be a good read for older teens, but i was very wrong. It reminds me of how young and nieve the pre-teen girl is by how attached Carmie is to her mother (she can't go anywhere witout her, drive, or anything and all she does is worry about her mother).