The Boy Project: Notes and Observations of Kara McAllister [Hardcover]

Kami Kinard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2012 | Age Range: 8 and up | Lexile Measure: 810L (What's this?)

For anyone who's ever felt that boys were a different species....



Wildly creative seventh grader Kara McAllister just had her best idea yet. She's going to take notes on all of the boys in her grade (and a few elsewhere) in order to answer a seemingly simple question: How can she get a boyfriend?

But Kara's project turns out to be a lot more complicated than she imagined. Soon there are secrets, lies, and an embarrassing incident in the boy's bathroom. Plus, Kara has to deal with mean girls, her slightly spacey BFF, and some surprising uses for duct tape. Still, if Kara's research leads her to the right boy, everything may just be worth it. . . .

Full of charts and graphs, heart and humor, this hilarious debut will resonate with tweens everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Looking for a boyfriend takes on a whole new meaning when 14-year-old Kara starts her research project.

Kara, a self-proclaimed geek, decides to find a boyfriend using the scientific method.  This initially involves covert observation of her subject: boys. She keeps detailed index cards, and the novel is decorated with her charts, graphs and lists. The project eventually becomes a science-fair project that also utilizes Facebook for a love survey. When her best friend Tabbi gets a boyfriend first, unfortunately with Kara\u2019s crush, it takes Kara some time to remember that she needs her best friend more than a she needs a boyfriend. This middle-school drama is hip to the moment, with break-up texting, kissing and popularity tug of wars. The boy obsession becomes tiresome, but Kara\u2019s irrepressible spirit, clever wit and introspection save this story from vapidity Kara\u2019s hilarious observations, as when she compares feigning happiness to the difficulty of fastening the, like, 15 hooks of her 87-year-old grandma\u2019s bra, keep it buoyant. As she becomes increasingly discerning, Kara realizes that being true to oneself is the coolest asset.

Kara\u2019s boy-crazy experiment lends refreshing perspective on teen relationships, and the results point to self-enlightenment. (Fiction. 10-13)

-Kirkus Reviews - October 15, 2011

Kinard\u2019s first novel reads a bit like Field Notes of a Romantically Frustrated Kid. Her sympathetic, entertaining heroine, Kara McAllister, dismayed at not having been kissed by age 13, is determined to use the scientific method to get a boyfriend: \u201cI\u2019ll be the eighth-grade version of Jane Goodall, except I\u2019ll be observing boys instead of chimps. Not that there\u2019s a huge difference.\u201d Her goal is twofold: win the science fair with this project and achieve her other objective—unlimited texting, promised by her parents in return for an A in science. Unobtrusive observations, note taking, charts, graphs, and questionnaires (incorporated throughout) are all part of her plan, which has humorous and unexpected side effects as her views of, and feelings for, her subjects shift during the course of her research. Kinard creates a highly credible middle-school universe of popular girls, dorky boys, unpredictable teachers, and volatile loyalties; she hits all the right notes as Kara learns that first opinions are rarely accurate and that the scientific method does not always apply to human beings. Ages 9–12. Agent: Stimola Literary Studio. (Jan.)

-Publisher's Weekly, December 5, 2011

About the Author

Kami Kinard enjoys writing about the boyfriend quest more than she enjoyed experiencing it. A teaching artist on the SC Arts Commission’s Roster of Approved Artists, she writes from Beaufort, South Carolina where she lives with her husband and two children. Please visit her online at: www.kamikinard.com.

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Product Details

• Age Range: 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press (January 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545345154
• ISBN-13: 978-0545345156
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #313,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book December 31, 2011

By AKS

Format:Hardcover

I have read many, many teen/tween novels-- so many of the ones I read are cliche, form-fitting, and wrought with teen angst and/or teens dealing with adult issues (suicide, alcoholism, abuse...). Not to make light of those issues, but it is refreshing to read a book with a clever protagonist who is dealing with the same stuff almost all of us dealt with when we were her age-- the need to belong, to be liked, to fit in... Kara's scientific approach to navigating middle school life is fun to read, and, as a narrator, she is very witty and spot on in her reactions to life in the middle school fish bowl which is always full of mean girls and the fragile nature of the teenage psyche. In the end, the novel has a great moral that is not preachy, obvious, or overdone but one that we would all do well to remember-- don't want to spoil the book by telling you it here, but it's worth the read to discover once again a simple secret to happiness.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh the memories..... January 13, 2012

By Grapes&Wrath

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I really enjoyed this book! The characters were well done and done in a way to bring back all those memories of middle school. It was so easy to picture real life 'characters' from my own long ago past and remember how everything was SO important as to be crisis material when you are 12. The book was well written and so much fun to read!

I would recommend this to adults for the fun read and laugh out loud memories and to teens as a fun, put it into perspective, insight.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun and insightful April 14, 2012

By C. W. Sherwood

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The story's very fun and the characters felt quite real--the author nails that tween voice.
My 12-year-old daughter loved the story too.
We both had trouble, though, with a couple of things--such as the main character being the only one in her whole class who hadn't had a "boyfriend" at age 12. At this age, there are certainly a few "couples" and declared crushes, but they're still the exception and not the rule, so the premise felt like a stretch.

We're thinking of reading this for our mother-daughter book club for the summer... I think it would give us a lot to talk about in terms of boy/girl relations, social cliques, popularity, etc.