Second Helpings (Jessica Darling, Book 2) [Paperback]

Megan McCafferty (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 22, 2003

“Knowing that I’ve just done something that will take decades off my parents’ lives with worry, you’ll excuse me for not getting into the fa-la-la-la-la Yuletide spirit this year. . . . The only difference between Christmas 2001 and Christmas 2000 is that I don’t have a visit from Hope to look forward to. And Bethany has already packed on some major fetal flab. Oh, and now Gladdie doesn’t need to ask a bizillion questions about my boyfriend, because she’s already gotten the dirt from you know who.”

Jessica Darling is up in arms again in this much-anticipated, hilarious sequel to Sloppy Firsts. This time, the hyperobservant, angst-ridden teenager is going through the social and emotional ordeal of her senior year at Pineville High. Not only does the mysterious and oh-so-compelling Marcus Flutie continue to distract Jessica, but her best friend, Hope, still lives in another state, and she can’t seem to escape the clutches of the Clueless Crew, her annoying so-called friends. To top it off, Jessica’s parents won’t get off her butt about choosing a college, and her sister Bethany’s pregnancy is causing a big stir in the Darling household.

With keen intelligence, sardonic wit, and ingenious comedic timing, Megan McCafferty again re-creates the tumultuous world of today’s fast-moving and sophisticated teens. Fans of Sloppy Firsts will be reunited with their favorite characters and also introduced to the fresh new faces that have entered Jess’s life, including the hot creative writing teacher at her summer college prep program and her feisty, tell-it-like-it-is grandmother Gladdie. But most of all, readers will finally have the answers to all of their burgeoning questions, and then some: Will Jessica crack under the pressure of senioritis? Will her unresolved feelings for Marcus wreak havoc on her love life? Will Hope ever come back to Pineville? Fall in love with saucy, irreverent Jessica all over again in this wonderful sequel to a book that critics and readers alike hailed as the best high school novel in years.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Every day, I wait for that doomsday shoe to drop on my head and crush my spirit," laments New Jersey high schooler Jessica Darling. This hilarious, candid sequel to Sloppy Firsts opens the summer before Jessica's senior year of high school, when the precocious misfit is at a New Jersey academic enrichment camp whose competitive enrollment is belied by its acronym-SPECIAL. There, she meets Prof. Samuel MacDougall, a handsome writing teacher with "three novels, two works of nonfiction and one hot piece of ass to his name," who challenges Jessica to imagine the world outside of her native suburbia. She also runs into her former "crush-to-end-all-crushes" Paul Parlipiano (he's gay, of course), who introduces her to Columbia University-which she decides she must attend. Come September, Jessica works on her college applications, dearly misses her best friend, Hope, who has moved to Tennessee, and spends much of her time trying not to think about bad boy Marcus Flutie, who broke her heart last winter when he confessed that he only asked her out as an experiment. As her senior year progresses, Jessica starts dating Len Levy, her rival for class valedictorian, and becomes the subject of the school's new anonymous gossip rag. The material is typical teen fare, but Jessica is a captivating, intelligent, acidly funny-but always believably adolescent-narrator who is unsparing in her sketches of Pineville High "society" yet touchingly alive to her own vulnerabilities. Though the happy ending seems targeted to a YA crowd, adults will also enjoy Jessica's winning observations.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Jessica Darling, the lovably cynical heroine of Sloppy Firsts (2001), is about to begin her final year of high school. She is not looking forward to it. Her best friend, Hope, has moved away, leaving her with only budding-movie-star Bridget to confide in. She also is doing her best to forget Marcus Flutie, the oh-so-sexy guy who captured her heart the year before, only to break it. Jessica has resolved to apply to Columbia University, but after the 9/11 attack, she's doubly certain her parents won't hear of her going to school in New York City. She's flattered by the attentions of Len Levy, a hot brainiac, who just might be the one to drive Marcus from her mind, not to mention relieve her of her virginity. As the time to graduation ticks down, Jessica discovers she knows less about Bridget, Marcus, and the other people who surround her than she thought she did. Smart, tentative, and funny, Jessica is a likable and wry observer of the competitive, gossipy high-school world. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 349 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1st edition (April 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609807919
• ISBN-13: 978-0609807910
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (205 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,228 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MEGAN MCCAFFERTY is the author of the hit novels Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, and Charmed Thirds, which was a New York Times bestseller. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and son. To find out more, visit www.MeganMcCafferty.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific, May 23, 2003

By 

Elizabeth Hendry (New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Second Helpings (Jessica Darling, Book 2) (Paperback)

I loved Second Helpings, and it's been years since I was in high school. It's a great story, very funny. The action in the novel takes place from July 2001-June 2002 in New Jersey high school student Jessica Darling's life. She spends part of her summer at writing camp, and then comes home to deal with the trials and tribulations of modern high school life and her senior year--college selection, boyfriends, mad crushes, friends, enemies. The novel takes the form of Jessica's diary, so we are privy to her innermost thoughts--many of which concern Marcus--an obsession that has followed her around since we last saw Jessica in Sloppy Firsts. Jessica is a great narrator--funny, sarcastic, poignant, heartbreaking, and even at times infuriating. This is a terrific novel and you certainly don't have to read Sloppy Firsts to enjoy it, but read Sloppy Firsts first--it is an excellent novel, just as strong as this one. I think anyone would enjoy this novel--it certainly does not need to be limited to the young adult crowd. Enjoy.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost as good as the first, November 3, 2003

By 

"celes1" (Havre de Grace, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Second Helpings (Jessica Darling, Book 2) (Paperback)

In the sequel to Sloppy Firsts we find Jessica Darling agonizing over both her future and her love life. Jessica finally decides to move on from what happened with Marcus and begins dating her academic rival, Len Levy. But Jessica's feelings for Marcus aren't as buried as she'd like them to be, which doesn't bode well for her and Lens' relationship. Meanwhile, Jessica is determined to make the right choice for college so she isn't miserable for the next four years as well. She has her heart set on Columbia but after the 9/11 attacks she has second thoughts about attending a school in New York.

I liked this book almost as much as the first one which is to say I liked it a whole darn lot. I was happy that the book continued to be realistic instead of descending into teen romance mush. I was satisfied with the ending and it seemed pretty final but I still can't help but want to read about Jessica's college exploits. Anyway, fans of the first book will be happy with this one.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even more biting and real then the first..., June 8, 2003

By 

Brittany Rose (Winnipeg, MB) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Second Helpings (Jessica Darling, Book 2) (Paperback)

In Megan McCafferty's Second Offering in the Jessica Darling sagas, we get introduced to her life as a Senior. With even more pessimistic yet realistic views of life as a suburban teenager, get ready for the rollercoaster ride of Jessica's life as she goes through new steps in boyfriends, sex-type-stuff, friends, dealing with the past, her family, and altogether your typical teenager life.

The thing I love about this book is that its SO real. The average teen book out there puts the main character in some weird crazy situation that only a small majority can relate to: ex, death of a parent, living in a trailer park, etc. etc. McCafferty isn't afraid to address the fact that hwile in the GRAND scheme of things JD's probs are probably trivial, in her life, they are her world. Which is why i think I (and many others) can relate.

If you're looking for a book where you feel at one with the characters and the plot, definately pick up Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings for a sometimes sad, sometimes touching, sometimes downright painfully hilariously embarassing and ALWAYS real plot!!!