Customer Reviews

She's So Money

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cherry is the new star author in the YA world. Her understanding of the young teens voice and her knack for great dialogue makes her one of the most refreshing voices to come around in sometime. My daughter has told all her friends at school that it's her new favorite book and I don't disagree with her. If SHE'S SO MONEY is any indication of Cherry"s talent, then she has a long successful and rewarding career ahead of her. Bravo Cherry and thank you for such a fantastic read..

High school senior Maya is a good girl. She works in her family's Thai restaurant after school every day and on weekends. She takes several AP courses, tutors and prays daily that she gets her acceptance to Stanford. She knows she's a straight arrow, and she likes it that way.

Things begin to change, however, when she is asked to tutor Camden King, a popular hottie and super-obnoxious wealthy senior. Their first meeting does not go well, as he leaves after a cell phone call and she throws away the backpack he forgot to take with him. He even offered her lots of cash to do his homework!

One weekend Maya's parents leave her and her brother in charge of the restaurant while they go to a wedding. Finally she is treated like the adult she knows she is. But she loses her cool when she encounters a set of miserable customers. They leave among threats, and she and her brother are too tired and crabby to clean up properly, vowing to do it the next day. The patrons follow through on their threats, and the Health Inspector leaves notice of violations and fines for Maya totaling $10,000! She is given only three weeks to pay the full amount.

Maya knows her family doesn't have that kind of money, so she takes Camden up on his potentially lucrative offer. He also has her do homework for a few friends, but not too well, so teachers won't be suspicious. She doesn't need sleep, right? Between spending time at the restaurant and doing her and others' homework, Maya is reaching the end of her rope.

Then Camden kisses Maya! It's her first, and now she's really confused. She won't make her deadline, so he proposes that she line up more tutors to join in and they will take a cut. Maya almost makes it, but of course someone figures out what's going on and threatens her. She needs more money, so they pull in students from another school. She thinks she's Camden's girlfriend now, but when she sees him with other girls, doubts creep in. In fact, Maya isn't sure of anything anymore.

Cherry Cheva, a writer for "Family Guy," brings readers a cast of realistic characters who make a few bad choices that spiral out of control. While the magnitude of this cheating operation seems crazy, it's easy to see how nice girl Maya gets sucked in. SHE'S SO MONEY will have readers turning pages quickly to find out what happens next and if Maya will be able to pull herself out of this mess.

--- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

Though I am an avid reader, I have never been one to read, post or rely on book reviews. However, I felt compelled to share my assessment on Cherry Cheva's teen novel, "She's So Money" and bottom line, it's one of the wittiest books I have ever read, whether it be for a teenager or adult of any age in search of a clever and entertaining read. I actually stumbled across the book while vacationing with my family in Florida this past weekend. I was in search of a light-hearted book that would be a quick read and my younger cousin was deeming it as her new favorite and begging me to read it so that we could converse about it. Being a person in her late 20's, I did not ever consider reading a book targeted to an age group 15 years my junior. However, my nostalgia took over, with memories of how much I enjoyed reading in my teenage years and I decided rather than go out and purchase a book that would be seemingly entertaining based on purely a synopsis on the back and the book cover, I would take my 13 year old cousin's advice (she actually happens to be a great writer and lover of books herself). Lo and behold, I found the book to be truly funny, entertaining, refreshing, what I would think to be relevant to teenagers and most of all, with a moral lesson laced in an inspiring rather than commandeering way. I loved it!

I was looking to purchase a gift for a friend's daughter, and decided to get her this great little book based upon the reviews I found here, as well it being recommended by several other parents. Needless to say, my friend said her daughter absolutely loved it! She could not put it down!

I picked up this book based on a recommendation from a friend and once I started reading it, I couldn't stop. I finished it in one day. It's was well-written and witty and just an all-around fun book to read. You don't have to be a teenager to enjoy this book. If you are looking for something light-hearted and entertaining this is it.

Title: She's So Money

Author: Cherry Cheva

Rating: 4.5/5

Good:

This book was extremely good. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this... I knew it'd be funny, but that was basically the extent of my knowledge.

I was extremely pleased to see that this book had even more going for it than hilarity.

Let's start with the main character. Maya was extremely believable, extremely flawed, and extremely real. She's the type of person I could probably meet walking down the street, or in a bookstore, or just anywhere. She's someone I could imagine having a conversation with. Which just makes her so easy to relate to.

And then there's the plot. What a crazy, wild scheme that Maya comes up with! And Cherry Cheva found a way to make it believable! I couldn't imagine something like this happening in my school, and yet somehow reading this book it seemed entirely plausible.

Finally, you have the ending. Semi-cheesy, but still entirely perfect for this book. Things didn't necessarily end how I expected them to, but that's only because I wasn't sure what to expect. This book was so crazy and fun, I never knew what would happen.

I am really really looking forward to reading Cherry's next book.


Bad:

The only bad thing I can think of was the cheesiness. Because, I'll admit, there was a lot of cheese. But for this book, it just worked. So I'm not going to complain.

SHE'S SO MONEY
CHERRY CHEVA

Rating: 4.5 Enchantments

Maya could never imagine a little freedom could cause so much trouble. When her parents leave her in charge of the family restaurant and her younger brother, Nat, she never thought the restaurant would end up with a hefty fine thanks to two bitchy customers. But in order to keep the 10K fine a secret from her over-controlling parents, she needs to pay it off before they can find out about it. And that's where Camden King comes in.

Camden King needs help with his homework. His first encounter with Maya as his tutor doesn't go well at all, especially when he comes across as a bit of a jerk. In fact, she quits when he offers to pay her to do his homework. But Camden is anything but easily deterred.

I have to admit I thought the first chapter or two of the book felt a little slow to me. It wasn't until Maya was left on her own that the story began to pick up. One of the scenes that stuck with me takes place fairly early in the book. Maya and Camden are talking in the school hallway, having just come to an agreement about the `homework' issue. He starts asking her about having a boyfriend and she says she hasn't had one and when she says she hasn't been kissed, Camden leans over and kisses her. I absolutely loved Maya's reaction to the kiss!

Cherry Cheva is originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan and currently lives in Los Angeles where she writes for the animated series, Family Guy. SHE'S SO MONEY is her first novel. Visit her online at http://www.myspace.com/cherrycheva

Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
June 2008

I first heard about this book on a few different blogs, all of which gave it great reviews, so I figured I would check it out.

This book certainly delivered. It is absolutely hilarious, and the plot really makes one want to keep reading. My only complaint is that the romance seemed a little unrealistic. Other than that, however, this is a great summer read. I would even recommend giving this to "reluctant readers". I hope to see more from this author in the future.

Maya's an overachiever. When she's not in class, she's studying, tutoring other kids (like Camden, a rich and rude popular boy), or working at her family's restaurant. Sometimes she even studies between taking orders. She feels as though she's pretty responsible, and she gets the chance to prove it when her parents go out of town for a convention, leaving Maya and her younger brother alone at the house. They aren't running the restaurant all by themselves - the fantastic cooks and staff are there, as per usual - but they are expected to keep everything up.

After one really rough night at the restaurant, Maya decides that she and her brother can go home then and cleanup in the morning. It's a costly decision, because the next day, a Health Inspector comes by and fines them $10,000. Maya is determined to pay off the fine without her parents knowing, but how can she keep it a secret and raise the dough? When Cam offers her money to do his homework for him, Maya swallows her pride and agrees. The battle of money vs. morals wages on as Cam gets her additional clients, which means more money but less sleep.

As news of the homework society spreads and more and more kids get involved, Maya is faced with more and more tough decisions. Should she stop what she's started? Could she, even if she wanted to? It's has become bigger than she is (she really is petite) and it's become more complicated than she ever dreamed. She knows the truth will out, but at what cost? Maya stumbles and stresses, but she ultimately finds her footing and proves her worth.

She's So Money is the perfect title for this winning story. I absolutely raced through this book. Cherry Cheva (short for Chevapravatdumrong) has a knack for dialogue. Not only did her teenaged characters sound like actual teenagers, but each character has a clear voice. Cheva discusses differences between cultures, classes, and genders in a realistic fashion, with characters talking openly or with their bias coming out in their speech or their actions. This book will speak to anyone who has ever felt obligated to work at his or her family's place of business or felt pressure to be perfect.

Shes so money is a quirky, funny book with much to offer. Put simply, its about an asian girl who's family owns a restaurant. When her parents go away and put her in charge, she runs into a bit of trouble. The health department fines them 10,000 on a random inspection and now she needs to find someway to repay it before her parents find out. With the help of her new friend and known partyboy, she forms a buisness of doing other peoples homework for money. But in the end, she gets more then what she expected...and maybe even love.
At first, my two friends read this book and i was hesitant to read it. But they convinced me and told me how funny it was. So i read it and loved it. I read tons of books and rarely review unless they make an impact on me. And this book did. It was funny and easily relatable. We've all gotten ourselves into situations that got blown out of porportion.

So you ask whether to read it? You definitely should!