Zoey Plays Games

Making Out #9

by Katherine Applegate

  They've all grown up together on a tiny island. They think they know everything about one another...but they're only just beginning to find out the truth. Zoey plays games with Aaron and sets off a wave of broken hearts. Because Lucas is in love with Zoey, Claire has vowed to make Aaron her own. But the island is too small for big secrets.   Zoey plays games with Aaron and sets off a wave of broken hearts. Because Lucas is in love with Zoey, Claire has vowed to make Aaron her own. But the island is too small for big secrets.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Teen, German Literature, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 23, 1996

About the author

#1 New York Times bestselling author Katherine Applegate has written many books for young readers, including THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, winner of the 2013 Newbery Medal.

Katherine’s picture books include THE BUFFALO STORM, illustrated by Jan Ormerod (Clarion Books); THE REMARKABLE TRUE STORY OF IVAN, THE SHOPPING MALL GORILLA, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (Clarion Books); SOMETIMES YOU FLY, illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt (Clarion Books); and ODDER: AN OTTER’S STORY, illustrated by Charles Santoso (Feiwel & Friends).

She’s written or co-written three early chapter series for young readers: ROSCOE RILEY RULES, a seven-book series illustrated by Brian Biggs (HarperCollins); DOGGO AND PUPPER, a three-book series illustrated by Charlie Alder (Feiwel & Friends). With Gennifer Choldenko, she co-authored DOGTOWN and MOUSE AND HIS DOG, illustrated by Wallace West (Feiwel & Friends).

Books for middle-grade readers include HOME OF THE BRAVE (Feiwel & Friends); THE ONE AND ONLY series, illustrated by Patricia Castelao, including THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, THE ONE AND ONLY BOB, THE ONE AND ONLY RUBY, and THE ONE AND ONLY FAMILY (HarperCollins); the ENDLING trilogy (HarperCollins); CRENSHAW (Feiwel & Friends); WISHTREE (Feiwel & Friends); WILLODEEN (Feiwel & Friends); ODDER (Feiwel & Friends); and the forthcoming POCKET BEAR (Feiwel & Friends).

With her husband, Michael Grant, Katherine co-wrote ANIMORPHS, a long-running series that has sold over 35 million books worldwide. They also wrote two other series, REMNANTS and EVERWORLD, and a young adult novel, EVE AND ADAM (Feiwel & Friends.)

Katherine’s work has been translated into dozens of languages, and her books have won accolades including the Christopher Medal, the Golden Kite Award, the Bank Street Josette Frank Award, the California Book Award Gold Medal, the Crystal Kite Award, the Green Earth Book Honor Award, the Charlotte Zolotow Honor Award, and the E.B. White Read Aloud Award. Many of her works have appeared on state master lists, Best of the Year lists, and Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and New York Times bestseller lists.

Katherine lives in Nevada with her husband and assorted pets. She is represented by Elena Giovinazzo at Heirloom Literary and Mary Pender at WME.

Reviews

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was much better! Although much less things happened.

Oh my god, Zoey. Oh god, I hate Zoey so much. She is the world's biggest fucking hypocrite and I hate her. Like, fuck you if you're going to get on your high horse about Lucas and then turn around and make out with Aaron without a single thought about what this means to your relationship. Are you SERIOUS. I hate her. What Lucas did wasn't okay, but what Zoey did is almost a thousand times worse because of how she's always reacted to Lucas. Zoey is my least favourite right now.

The other big thing that happened was Lara. I still don't like her, but we'll see. She seemed a bit better at least? She has a strange sense of humour and she's hard to figure out. Maybe it'll be better if she starts getting POV chapters. She's moved into the Passmore's garage and is probably going to hook up with Jake at some point.

Jake is slowly trying to get his life back together. I don't feel like someone like Lara is going to be helpful to him, but maybe she is. Maybe they'll help each other? I feel like there's more to Lara than she puts forward.

The other thing is Nina and Claire's dad has a new girlfriend who has a sexy son named Aaron. I really wanted him and Claire to get together (although that complicates things if they become step-siblings). So far I feel like I want to like Aaron (he plays guitar and sings and those are my absolute weaknesses) but so far I don't get much of a personality from and my feelings are tainted by the fact that he's kissing Zoey who he knows has a boyfriend.

There's also potentially life changing news with Christopher maybe joining the Army which makes me worried :(

Finally, there's big news with Benjamin - he might qualify for a surgery to reverse his blindness. There was a bizarre subplot with Nina overhearing Benjamin and Aisha talking and leaping to the conclusion that they were hooking up, even though I feel like Benjamin and Aisha barely talk. That seemed like drama for drama's sake, which I dislike. But I'm hopeful for Benjamin and what this surgery would mean to him.

And now I'm out of books entirely and I'm not sure when I will be able to get the rest of them :( Perhaps I can borrow from a certain someone this summer :D

[Nicky (burialshroud) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book opens on a Chatham Island Thanksgiving. Aisha’s family has invited Christopher over, theirs is kind of boring, comic relief, Christopher wears some lipstick. Jake spends it with his parents, no mention of his sister. I think Applegate is really committing to lifting Holly out of the story now. I’m waiting for some kind of solid mention of Jake as an only child.

Claire and Nina’s dad has invited his new girlfriend Sarah and her son Aaron. Aaron is conveniently aged 17 and very good-looking. Claire sees the visit as an opportunity to scheme and plot, in her characteristic but very tiresome way. Everything has to be a scheme with her, it’s exhausting. Just get on with your life, Claire. Anyway she toys with the idea of breaking up her dad and Sarah, then decides instead to lure Aaron into her icy clutches. Aaron’s described as having long hair and full lips, which my 13 year-old self translated into:



He sucks.

Zoey and Benjamin’s dad Jeff (not to be confused with Jeff-Aisha’s-First-Love, with the denim jacket and no shirt) decides to cement his reunion with his wife Darla by inviting his love child Lara to Thanksgiving and not telling anyone about it. Dick move. During the meal Jeff and Darla invite Lara to live on Chatham Island, in what sounds like a crawl space above their garage. Benjamin is into it, but the whole situation really brings out the jealous, snotty worst in Zoey.

The day after Thanksgiving, Claire throws a party for the island teens so that she has an excuse to see Aaron again. He only has eyes for Zoey (I think it’s worth noting that Claire is wearing a turtleneck tucked into jeans for this party). A couple of days later, Zoey and Aaron have a chance encounter. Aaron just might be the biggest douche to ever walk the hallowed beaches of Chatham Island. He’s flying a kite and he says things like “…not all guys realise there’s more to life than sex” and “You know, I never travel without my guitar”. If I was being fed these lines, I might weep from embarrassment. Zoey however, is aflame with lust; I love Lucas, but I want Aaron! Oh, life! Of course Zoey can’t resist acting on her feelings because it might be love (oy vey) and the book closes on a steamy Zoey/Aaron make-out session while Claire watches through a window in a rage.

A few other plot developments. Benjamin enlists Aisha’s help to research a blindness-reversing surgery, while Nina watches through a window in a rage (is this a family thing?). Christopher decides to join the army. Jake and Lara fool around.

It’s an eventful episode, I loved it so much. Almost everything I know about Thanksgiving and its related traditions has its origins in this book and there are things that pop up in real life that bring up associations from this particular book EVERY TIME:

Sweet potatoes with marshmallows Nina gets diarrhoea
Pringles Aisha does the duck bill thing at Claire’s Aaron party
Black Friday Zoey, Nina and Aisha go shopping

Fave Moments:
-See above.
-“Claire had scored the first point of the day. [Nina] made a mental note to get in a good zinger during dinner”
-Nina is crippled with embarrassment at Thanksgiving dinner when everyone's going round and saying what they're thankful for.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this book starts at Thanksgiving.
* Nina and Claire learn that their father has invited his new girlfriend Sarah over for dinner. When she arrives they learn that she also has a very beautiful 17-year-old son - Aaron.
* Claire flirts with Aaron but is annoyed when she realises he likes Zoey.
* Aaron asks Zoey out before finding out that Lucas is her boyfriend.
* Claire pursues Aaron, but he still likes Zoey.
* Zoey feels tempted, especially when he tells her that he doesn't believe in sex before marriage, which is completely the opposite to Lucas who is still pressuring her.
* Ben finds out about an operation which might help him to see again (called something like a blindness reversal operation - a lot of thought went into that). Nina sees him with Aisha and assumes the worst (Aisha is really helping him to research). She tells Christopher who is annoyed, and she tries to work out what is going on between A and B. Eventually, they catch her and have to explain what they're doing.
* Zoey + Ben's parents have their half-sister (Lara) over for Thanksgiving, and end up inviting her to live above the garage.
* Jake has stopped drinking, but now wants Lara to stop drinking too.
* Claire decides to make a final call on Aaron before he leaves, but sees him through the window kissing Zoey 🙈

Zoey seriously needs to stop doing this, do it once, 🤷🏻‍♀️ , do it twice and you're starting to form a pattern.

[Katelynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

katherine applegate's style and attention to character development is kind of missing from these last two books, but this one was more on track. it's become a lot more soap opera-y with the plot driving the characters instead of the other way around, unlike how applegate usually writes, but i still got sucked in. lots of little things set up here that are going to turn into big things, from what i remember. next!

[Saadia Y · Rating 3 out of 5]

At this point of the series, it seems like narratives are kind of repeating themselves but with different characters. I don't feel like anything really happened in this one even though quite a few new storylines have started.

[87lectures · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oooh new drama ahead!
I really enjoyed watching Zoey fall down from her "Saint-Zoey" pedestal.
And I am always in awe before Nina and Benjamin, they're just the best couple ever.
Really nice to see that the new author (since KA acknowledged all the books from this one were ghostwritten) made the effort to go deeper into the characterization of all the protagonists.

[M.D. Bowden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this series when I was a teenager and just re-read this one to see if they were as trashy as my English teacher claimed. Still thought it was good! When I was 14 I would have given it 5 stars.

[Nadine · Rating 4 out of 5]

diese Buchreihe hat mich während meiner Teeniezeit begleitet. ich habe sie so geliebt...

[Lizzie the Book Hoarder · Rating 4 out of 5]

High drama. This series reminds me of a CW teen drama series and I just cant help but love it.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting turn of events, whatever next

[belindag26637 · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
This one is definitely the “thanksgiving episode” of the series but I love the new characters that are being introduced to the island. This one was fun and had a lot of drama.

[Jeannine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sassy and I love it. The creepy stalker thing, everyone does in these teenage dramas, has begun.

[Elaine Mullane || Elaine and the Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feeling nostalgic for the books of my youth, I revisited Katherine Applegate and her Islanders omnibus editions (first released as the Making Out series way back in 1993. Yes, I am that old...).

While I found them to be overly-dramatic and a little bit cheesy on second reading, I think they would be loved by teenagers today. YA has taken a much-welcome step in the sphere of fantasy, science fiction and Dystopia, largely, in recent years so for teenagers looking for the traditional romance novels filled with teen-angst and buried secrets, these are a good series to turn to. A little bit Dawson's Creek in it's setting and it's drama, The Islanders is the perfect teen soap opera.

[C. B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember being obsessed with this series when I was 14! I made my mom buy me all 29 books (in Germany a 29th book was published, there is no English translation) after borrowing the first one from my then-best friend.
Looking back, the plots got wilder and wilder with time: A lost half-sister, Claire's stalker, Ben miraculously being able to see again etc. I don't think I would enjoy it as much now as I did ten years ago, but it will only have a special place in my heart.

[Isa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0

[Pete Payton · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK plot. Skewed characterization.