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Rating: 
Summary: Choose this book
Review: After reading Must Love Dogs, I was anxiously awaiting a new book by Claire Cook and was thrilled when she finally released Multiple Choice. It is a fun book filled with real life situations. It tells the story of March who goes to college at the same time her daughter Olivia does. The problem is, she failed to tell Olivia about her plans until they happen to meet up at a local radio station where they are both interns. Needless to say, the sparks start flying when the two co-eds co head to head. Multiple Choice is a great book for any mother who has a daughter going off to school and maybe even considering going back to school herself.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny and perceptive
Review: MULTIPLE CHOICE by Claire Cook What a cute book! MULTIPLE CHOICE by Claire Cook is the story of a mother and daughter that end up attending college at the same time (but at different schools). Narrated by "mom", March Monroe, the story is told in a light tone and is funny throughout. Her daughter Olivia is in college now, and although March tells her tale as if the two of them are close friends, Olivia's attitude toward her mother is one of embarrassment. She's at a time in her life where she's friendly with Dad, but she would rather not be in her mother's company. Olivia has no idea her mother has started college until they bump into each other at the college radio station as fellow interns. (College was husband Jeff's idea --- he discovered that it was a great way to get financial aid if there were more than one college student in the family). It's one funny scene after another. The station decides that they need a new show to fill in a time slot, due to a vacating show focusing on New Age philosophies called "Karyn's Karmic Korner" hosted by a woman named Rhonda. The show "I'm Rubber, You're Glue" is created, and March and Olivia are the stars! It's their chance to become famous and make a go at it in the world of radio, while being themselves, discussing topics and answering questions from a mother and daughter point of view. In the meantime, March has a crush on their producer, David, who she finds out reciprocates her feelings, and she dreams up fantasies that include him. It's harmless fun, although at one point March is almost tempted to make that one step past that forbidden line. Antics with the impossible "Andrea", March's last client in her "directionality" business, are full of laughs, as March tries her best to wean Andrea off of her. Andrea is starting to suffer separation anxiety, and March is almost happy to be rid of her and this business, although the money was pretty good, and the job was pretty easy. At one point Andrea uses March as a high-priced baby sitter. I loved MULTIPLE CHOICE. It's not a literary novel by any means, but it's a very simple, fun, summer read that will have you chuckling. I'm giving this one 4 stars, and highly recommend it to fans of chick lit.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended summer reading
Review: MULTIPLE CHOICE by Claire Cook What a cute book! MULTIPLE CHOICE by Claire Cook is the story of a mother and daughter that end up attending college at the same time (but at different schools). Narrated by "mom", March Monroe, the story is told in a light tone and is funny throughout. Her daughter Olivia is in college now, and although March tells her tale as if the two of them are close friends, Olivia's attitude toward her mother is one of embarrassment. She's at a time in her life where she's friendly with Dad, but she would rather not be in her mother's company. Olivia has no idea her mother has started college until they bump into each other at the college radio station as fellow interns. (College was husband Jeff's idea --- he discovered that it was a great way to get financial aid if there were more than one college student in the family). It's one funny scene after another. The station decides that they need a new show to fill in a time slot, due to a vacating show focusing on New Age philosophies called "Karyn's Karmic Korner" hosted by a woman named Rhonda. The show "I'm Rubber, You're Glue" is created, and March and Olivia are the stars! It's their chance to become famous and make a go at it in the world of radio, while being themselves, discussing topics and answering questions from a mother and daughter point of view. In the meantime, March has a crush on their producer, David, who she finds out reciprocates her feelings, and she dreams up fantasies that include him. It's harmless fun, although at one point March is almost tempted to make that one step past that forbidden line. Antics with the impossible "Andrea", March's last client in her "directionality" business, are full of laughs, as March tries her best to wean Andrea off of her. Andrea is starting to suffer separation anxiety, and March is almost happy to be rid of her and this business, although the money was pretty good, and the job was pretty easy. At one point Andrea uses March as a high-priced baby sitter. I loved MULTIPLE CHOICE. It's not a literary novel by any means, but it's a very simple, fun, summer read that will have you chuckling. I'm giving this one 4 stars, and highly recommend it to fans of chick lit.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Book for the Summer of 2004
Review: MULTIPLE CHOICE is Claire Cook's new novel, following the popular MUST LOVE DOGS. In MULTIPLE CHOICE, March Monroe, a middle-aged mother of two teenagers, decides to return to college to get the degree she abandoned when she met and married her husband, Jeff. While Jeff is all for this new adventure, mainly because of the financial benefits reaped when having two students in college at the same time, their daughter Olivia is less than thrilled. In fact, they forget to let Olivia know that her middle-aged mother is now a freshman at the local community college. Olivia finds this out by accident when she and her mother both end up as interns at the local radio station. When Olivia sees her mother walking into WQBM, she wishes she were invisible. As for March, it's quite an experience to go back to college and be surrounded by adults young enough to be her children. It's making March feel ancient. She decides she won't fit in with most of the student body and finds friendship with another older college student, a senior citizen named Etta. The book is narrated by March and is told from her point of view. The tone of the book is light and comical, as with all books of this genre. What comes off as funny is the disparaging points of view between mother and daughter. While March starts off with wonderful stories of friendship and companionship between herself and her only daughter, Olivia's reactions to her mother are anything but friendly. Olivia is eighteen years old, and the last thing she wants is to deal with a mother who is trying to fit in with her college friends. Olivia is so embarrassed that she can't even talk to her mother. The tension fills the room whenever they are together, and half the time March pretends that nothing is wrong between them. On the other hand, Olivia and dad Jeff get along just fine. March's frustration is obvious as she watches the two of them getting along and enjoying a pleasant conversation. March and Olivia do nothing but fight, if they're communicating at all, and no matter how hard March tries, there is nothing that will get through to Olivia. March does not understand why this is happening, when all she can remember is the Olivia she once knew, the sweet little girl now turned into a hormonal teenager. While her relationship with Olivia is on the downturn, March develops a new relationship with David, the producer of "Karyn's Karmic Korner," a new-age radio show that airs on WQBM every afternoon. He's a breath of fresh air, is close to March's age, and is also kind of cute. March and Olivia help out with the radio show by being "faces" in the audience to act as call-in guests. March doesn't score any points by being friends with David, and Olivia is shocked that they are on a first-name basis. March isn't even sure where this relationship is heading, and she and David flirt mildly with each other, every time they meet. When Rhonda, "Karyn" of "Karyn's Karmic Korner," decides it's time to call it quits, David thinks up a great new talk show, based on the tension-filled interactions between March and Olivia. Here was an opportunity for the two of them to form a bond and renew their mother-daughter relationship. March and Olivia are quite excited about this idea, but it doesn't turn out exactly as they had hoped. A funny side-plot involves March's business, which takes on clients to help with their "directionality." Her last client, "Ahndrayuh" (Andrea), is having a hard time letting go, and March realizes she has become no more than a babysitter for this dreaded client. MULTIPLE CHOICE is one funny scene after another. It's a light summer book, bringing a smile to anyone who reads it. Granted, although the main plot involves the relationship between mother and daughter, the book is really geared towards the 40-something crowd who may be able to relate to their own family crisis, such as teenage angst and rebellion towards the baby boomer crowd. It's not a deep story, but it does make light of these typical family relationships and is just one more wonderful book for the summer of 2004. --- Reviewed by Marie Hashima Lofton
Rating:
Summary: Funny and perceptive
Review: You'll have a very hard time putting down this utterly charming yet extraordinarily perceptive story of family reallignment when Olivia, daughter of March and Jeff and brother of Jackson, leaves for college just as her mother returns to school. For anyone who has left home or has had to deal with a child leaving home, this witty book is a must. Cook's great talent lies in writing a wonderfully easy read about a not-so-easy subject. This book wil fly by, but its themes -- a family in flux, mother/daughter tensions -- will be with you long after you close Multiple Choice. Read it with your mother, your father, your sister or brother.
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