You Are SO Cursed!

Rating:
Summary: I am SO happy I bought this book for my daughter
Review: I saw this on the shelf at the store and read the back cover. I thought it would appeal to my 15 year old daughter who is going through a "stage." I gave it to her and she gave me back a dirty look. Then, that night, I heard laughter from her bedroom and I could tell her TV wasn't on. I went in and asked her what was so funny. She was giggling and pointing at the book.

She gave it to me the next day. It was the first time I ever saw her read a book in one sitting. I started to read it and I finished it last night with a big smile on my face.

There are lessons learned in this book, ones I've taught my daughter and ones that most kids and adults alike should learn. But they are not heavy handed. Instead, Ms. Nash is so clever in her writing that I was caught up in the story (which is a rarity for kids books as any parent will tell you). And it is just plain funny. I just wonder how Ms. Nash met my daughter because she sure got it right.

Rating:
Summary: A clever story that doesn't sell teenagers short.
Review: Naomi Nash does an excellent job of channeling the mind of a wannabe teenage witch Vicki in this hilarious novel that unfortunately won't last a weekend -- you'll find yourself reading to the end without watching the clock or even bothering to take care of those pesky bodily functions like eating, showering, and sleeping. I was impressed with how well the narrative flows through her eyes, piecing together the puzzles of magic tricks and high school friendships and romance in a way that constantly engages the reader as we experience everything through her eyes. My only complaint is that there wasn't more of these characters!

Rating:
Summary: Fun New Teen Fiction Novel
Review: Vicki Marotti is sick of being misunderstood by her Vice Prinicipal, and thought of as strange by the little jocks and cheerleaders at school. So she comes up with something. She begins announcing throughout school that she is a fantastic street magician, and that whoever harasses either her, or her friends, will have a hex put on them. Everything is going great, that is, until a cute upperclassman, Gio Carson, figures out the truth about Vicki, and her so-called "magic." After all, her little curses are nothing but a lot of smoke, and some mirrors. Now Vicki's unsure whether cute Gio will tell the entire school her secret, or if he'll keep it locked up inside himself, shared only with Vicki herself.

Being a fan of the previous books in the SmoochYA series, I was eagerly anticipating the release of YOU ARE SO CURSED! I was not disappointed at all. Naomi Nash is a fantastic author, who has created a fun, yet different type of teen character, in Vicki Marotti. While much of the book does deal with Vicki's obsession with convincing the meatheads, and prom queens that she really does have magic powers, and that she will hex all of them if they keep up their harassment, it also has many different important life-lesson undertones. The biggest one being how to tell the difference between true friends, and phonies. A must-have.

Erika Sorocco

Rating:
Summary: Interesting.
Review: Vickie Marotti is a smart, sassy teen witch, or at least she'd like everyone to think she is. From pentacle's dangling from her ears to curses rained down upon the heads of all enemies, she appears to have the whole black magic thing down pat. When Gio enters her life though, the jig's up; he's a real magician, and Vickie is just Vickie. The only magic is the tingle between the two of them. All the curses and such have been a scam, Vickie's shield to keep all who would come near far enough away to not hurt her. Now that she wants to let the shield down for Gio, how does she do it without letting go of too much of herself?

*** While there's no witchcraft, if you spell witch differently, there's a few of those around. Vickie shows readers that much of the time when you see a scary looking kid, it's all an act, and there's a really neat person hiding under the mask. There's a few comical gags and sarcastic wit to lighten the otherwise serious message. ***
Amanda Killgore

Rating:
Summary: With Great Power Comes A Lot of Headaches!
Review: Vickie Marotti is no jock or beauty queen, so the only place she's going to fit in is with the other misfits.

This gives her the idea to become the ultimate misfit - a curse slinging witch! - to protect her fellow outcast friends. Using really cool stage tricks, Vickie seems to make her curses come true, but as long as no one knows the truth and no one gets hurt, why should Vickie care who she scares with a little drama?

The problem is that Vick seems a little eager to throw her fake curses around. Is power going to Vickie's head?

Throw in some mean-spirited classmates worthy of being cursed, a goat with bowel problems, a cute classmate who wants to be more than friends, and a friend acts like she's a new enemy, and Vickie is having one heck of a school year!

"You Are So Cursed" shows you how the tricks are done but never lets the magic escape. This is one teen magician I hope *doesn't* pull a dissapearing act!