Customer Reviews

Smart Boys & Fast Girls

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

All the boys love Natalie Page...as a buddy, that is. After all, she sure can run fast, and now that she's begun her Sophomore year at Mapleville High, she's proving her athleticism, by making the Varsity Cross-Country Team. Now all she needs is a boyfriend. Someone cute, and strong. Someone like Zach Fulton, the captain of the boys cross-country team. But the only way to get hunky Zach's attention, is by proving herself on the field. Soon, Zach is so into Natalie, and her running skills, that he's giving her rides home from school and practice. Natalie couldn't be happier. No more sitting around with her closest pals on Saturday nights as they make-out with their boyfriends. Nope, not for Natalie. Now she's going to have a guy of her own. Then tragedy strikes. Natalie begins failing Geometry, and has to get a tutor. Matt is a smart guy who thinks that sports are dumb. The only prob? He's totally cute. And now that she's enlisted Matt's help in pretending to be her boyfriend, in an attempt to make Zach jealous, she's contemplating why she even likes Zach in the first place. If Natalie had known how complicated getting a guy was going to be, she would have stayed single.

I can't believe I'm saying this, as I'm often hard to please when it comes to YA novels, but when Stephie Davis and teen fiction mix, you get a perfect result. One that's fun, cute, and totally romantic. Teenage readers will be grappling to get their hands on Davis' latest SMART BOYS & FAST GIRLS, and may just find themselves praying that she will continue the series, as this one is too good to end anytime soon. Filled with hilarious moments that will keep all readers rolling on the floor laughing, this book is too good to miss. TIP: Bring it to your next sleepover, and you'll be the hit of the night!

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Varsity track runner Natalie is in danger of being dropped from the team due to failing math grades. She reluctantly accepts Matt as her tutor. As he helps her with her math, Natalie tries to gain the attention of the team's superstar Zach. She persuades Matt to pretend to be her boyfriend, which is not hard to do as he is already sweet on his student.

The sophomore feels good to show off a boyfriend to her pals who all have "men" in their lives. However, the best is that Zach has noticed her and wants to go out with her. She has everything she desires so Natalie ponders why she wants Matt to keep kissing her not Zach.

This is a terrific teenage romance starring likable characters especially the heroine who keeps the tale together. The story line is well written as the high school scene comes to life. Adding to the pleasure is the delightful gender bending as the title implies with the female being the athlete and the male doing well in academics. Young adults will enjoy Stephie Davis' humorous look at romance in the classroom.

Harriet Klausner

Who woulda thought that a geek that travels everywhere on his bike with a little strap thingy to hold his pants up so they wouldn't get caught in the chain would be dating a cross country runner.
When Matt starts tutoring Natalie so she can stay on the cross country team, she thinks he is really annoying. But the thing is she doesn't want anyone to know that she has a tutor especailly Zach, her hot teammate. So when she tells everyone that Matt is her new boyfriend, things start to get confusing, because Matt already has a girlfriend that lives in London.
This book will keep you guessing until the very end- but don't read the last page or you'll ruin the book.
I thought this book was written in very much the way Natalie would have described it such as "OMG. I was gonna die right there," and other things similar to what a teenage such as myself would say.
It was a good book. The plot was well written and was different than in other teen books.

I ABSOLUTLEY LOVED THIS BOOK INM A TEEN AND I WISH I WAS THIS GIRL . I THOUGHT THE BEGINNG WAS OKAY BUT THEN IT GOT GOOD TOWARDS THE MIDDLE AND THE END WAS SUPER CUTE. I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO YOU!!!

The more books I read, the more predictable they become. I guess that's to be expected because as I go, I'm absorbing more plots, characters, and author ideas so I'm able to compare and predict more and more. And for the most part, this book was very predictable. I think it was a lot like She's So Money except with the genders reversed; what with the tutoring, the unreachable jock, the falling for each other in the end. It was all so cliched and unexciting. I knew what was going to happen through out the whole book and something like that is not enjoyable to read in the least...except it was. Weirdly, as unexciting as the story was, I wasn't completely lulled or put off. There was some little thing in there that made me not want to put the book down. I think it may have been how relatable Natalie was as a main character. Her character was one of the main things the author got right. Natalie is that perfect girl who you feel could be your best friend. She was written so that she would have issues and flaws and yet still seem like someone who deserved a happy ending, and for me, that was the one part that redeemed the book. The plot was ordinary, the side characters were ordinary, the ending was completely and utterly ordinary; but the one unordinary thing in the book, Natalie, was the one thing that made it worth reading. And I would recommend this book, just so you can meet a super cool girl that you may possibly want to make your new best friend.

This book was pretty good. I loved the storyline and the characters as well. I found myself relating to Nat alot in this book. And I loved the other characters. I recommend this book. The ending is really cute 2!! :)

This was a good quick read (I was able to finish this in a couple of hours). The main character is likable and her problems are relate-able to more than just sporty girls. She's going through problems with her friends, who have been spending time with their boyfriends over chillin' with her (a common problem many girls can relate to), and she's also having to deal with parents who do not understand her. While both the aforementioned problems are not a main part of the story, they are part of the layering used to make the main character seem and feel real.

I liked the main character enough to forgive the main male character of his flaws. For a quick read, he was an okay main interest character. I believed she liked him, so I didn't have to like him too much. It was more like I was reading about a friend and her experience, and I was just on the sidelines, listening to her.

The story is fairly believable as teen novels go, and has its high points. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone wanting to read a quick and fun teen/romance novel.

Yes this book may be predictable but it was cute. I loved it. omg i would so go out with matt. it took him long enough. HEy was i the only 1 that noticed the error on page 45. IT said hears instead of ears...maybe it was just my copy..

This book is wonderful!
With many plot twists, it shows the life of a young runner, and how difficult high school years can be.
It's a fantastic read, and one of the best books I've ever read. Two thumbs up!

Natalie Page is one of the uncool set. She is not the prettiest, most popular, or smartest girl in school. She's not trendy or hip, but she is fast. Track gives her life substance and meaning, and the threat of losing it because she just can't get geometry is apalling. Forced to be tutored by a nerd, Matt, she feels even less cool. She tries to pass the geek off as her boyfriend, but he has a girlfriend already and one of the cool guys is acting interested in Natalie. Then, her verbal sparring with Matt turns into something sweeter and more special, and Natalie wants her lie to be true.

** It's unusual to see a book, geared to any age, where the female lead is the one being tutored by the male. Seeing the paradigm turned on its ear is refreshing. This simple story will speak to the geeks of the world, who are left out of the cliques. **

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore, Freelance Reviewer.