When Andie moves to a new town the summer of her senior year, she develops a crush on Colton, the guy who dishes out popcorn at the local movie theater. True, he doesn’t even seem to know what a meet-cute is, but then, not everyone can share her obsessive love of old films. Much to the annoyance of Tom, the theater manager, Andie begins hanging out at the theater every time Colton is on shift, and much to Andie’s delight, Colton offers to drive her to school on the first day and show her around the campus.
When Andie falls asleep watching Pretty in Pink the night before school starts, she wakes up to find that her first day of high school in Punxsutawney is not quite everything she would have hoped for–Colton has another girl zeroing in on him, the halls of the high school are filled with the usual catty cliques, and she’s made the mistake of wearing one of her mom’s absurd thrift store finds.
But thanks to some mystical quirk of the universe, Andie gets a do over, waking up the next morning to find that it’s the first day all over again. As she suffers through her own personal Groundhog Day, Andie uses her endless amounts of time to bridge the gap between the social groups at Punxsutawney High. She realizes that the cheerleaders are actually do-gooders, the goths are actually caring, the freaks and geeks see people for who they are, and even the jocks can be lovable. Now, if she can only find true love’s kiss and convince the other students to be more accepting, she might find a way to break the endless cycle and go back to a normal life….
This teen novel is a tribute to Molly Ringwald and 80s movies everywhere. It was refreshingly clean, with virtually no swearing or sexual content. With her unlimited amount of time to study human nature, Addie comes to understand the secrets, motivations, and aspirations of almost every student at the high school, even her romantic rival. She also comes to realize her own superficiality and learns to appreciate the one boy who treats her the same no matter what version of herself she brings to school on that interminable first day. Despite its not so original plot and its somewhat cliché message, this was a fun, feel-good story that may appeal more to nostalgic 80s fans than to actual teens.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Rosanne E. Lortz 