Review: The You Know Who Girls: Freshman Year by Annameekee Hesik

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

Abbey Brooks, Gila High freshman-to-be, never thought a hellish day of shopping at the mall with her best friend, Kate, could change her life. But when she orders French fries from the flirtatious Hot Dog on a Stick Chick, she gets more than deep-fried potatoes. Abbey tries to ignore the weird, happy feeling in her gut, but that proves to be as impossible as avoiding the very insistent (and—rumor has it—very lesbian) players on Gila High’s girls’ basketball team. They want freakishly long-legged Abbey to try out, and Abbey doesn’t hate the idea. But Kate made Abbey pinky swear to avoid basketball and to keep away from the you-know-who girls on the team.

Sometimes promises can’t be kept. And sometimes girls in uniform are impossible to resist.

MY TAKE:

I don't usually read gay/lesbian YA fiction, but the book's blurb sounded really interesting so I gave it a go.

The You Know Who Girls: Freshman Year focuses on Abbey Brooks and her first year of high school. Over the course of the year, she finds herself attracted to girls and finds that she's actually pretty good at basketball, a sport she's never played before.

As a former college basketball player, I really appreciated how practices, tryouts, and the games themselves are described here. My experience was pretty much the same. As far as I know, though, none of us on our team over the years was a lesbian. There were lesbians on some of the other teams, but I liked that in this book, it was made clear that there were only a few girls on the team were actually lesbians. Basically, it's saying, straight girls can like playing basketball too.

The great thing about this book is that you don't have to be a lesbian to enjoy it. The way Abbey and her experiences are written, it could very well be a girl-boy story. It's very realistic. It doesn't paint a purely happy picture of lesbian couples, or even just couples in general, but the way their problems are written, it doesn't feel cliche at all.

There were times when I found Abbey annoying and I felt the instant attraction between her and Keeta a little bit rushed. Overall, though, the characters felt quite real and their relationships felt natural.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the e-ARC. Publication date of The You Know Who Girls: Freshman Year is on October 16, 2012.

THE GOOD:

1. You don't have to be gay/lesbian to enjoy this book.
2. The relationships, for the most part, are quite realistic.
3. The plot is well-written.

THE BAD:

1. Abbey can be annoying sometimes.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

Yes, there is a word for what you've done to me; the only one that says it all.

READ IT IF:

1. You are a lesbian teenager.
2. You are questioning your sexuality.
3. You like playing basketball.

RATING:


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