Chicks Ahoy

by Lynda Sandoval

While working on the cruise ship that her father captains during summer vacation, Camille and her friend Jiggy, trying to make the best of a bad situation, party with their co-workers, but when Jiggy's partying gets out of control, Camille learns the true meaning of friendship. Original.

Genres: Young Adult, Humor

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 9, 2006

About the author

**Since I'm intimately familiar with the blood, sweat, and tears that go into producing a book, I will only be listing my 4-and 5-star reads. We don't all like the same fare (as is evidenced by some of the Goodreads ratings on my own work!), so if I don't love a book, you won't see it on my page. I'm not interested in bashing anyone else's creative efforts or negatively influencing anyone's reading choices. This is PURELY my choice, and how you review is up to you. On with the bio.**

Lynda Sandoval is a former police officer-turned fiction writer with 22 published (or soon to be published) books to her credit. She's written women's fiction and nonfiction for HarperCollins Rayo; romance for Silhouette Special Edition; a romantic novella for Avon A; and young adult novels and novellas for Simon & Schuster and Houghton Mifflin. She launched her career with five award-winning books for Kensington Bouquet and Pinnacle Encanto, and her popular nonfiction text published by Gryphon Books for Writers, True Blue: An Insider's Guide to Street Cops—For Writers, is still selling strong.

Lynda also works half-time as an emergency 9-1-1 dispatcher for the Fire/EMS Department, teaches writing for Long Ridge Writer's Group, volunteers at a GLBTQ youth center and speaks regularly to book groups and clubs.

Lynda's Awards:

Look of Love/Pinnacle Encanto/1999
~~2000 Rising Star award

One and Only/Pinnacle Encanto/2001
~~4-1/2 star Gold Medal Top Pick in Romantic Times
~~2002 Golden Quill Award, Short Contemporary

Thief of Hearts/Pinnacle Encanto/2001
~~2003 Colorado Romance Writers' Keeper Award
~~2002 Beacon Award, Long Contemporary
~~Finalist, 2002 Booksellers' Best Contest, Long Contemporary
~~Finalist, 2002 Golden Quill award, Long Contemporary

Unsettling/HarperCollins Rayo/2004
~~2005 Write Touch Readers' Award, Mainstream Fiction
~~2005 Laurie Award of Excellence, Single Title Fiction
~~2005 The Lories, Mainstream Fiction
~~2005 The Lories, Best of the Best Published
~~2005 Colorado Romance Writers' Award of Excellence, Mainstream Fiction
~~2nd place, 2005 More than Magic Award, Mainstream Fiction
~~2nd place, 2005 Beacon Award, Mainstream Fiction
~~Finalist, 2005 Golden Quill Award, Mainstream Fiction
~~Finalist, 2005 Aspen Gold Award, Single Title Fiction
~~Finalist, 2005 National Readers' Choice Award, Single Title Fiction

And Then There Were Three/Silhouette Special Edition/2004
~~Two weeks on the Waldenbooks Series Bestsellers' List, peaking at #3
~~2nd place, 2005 The Lories, Long Contemporary
~~Finalist, 2005 Colorado Romance Writers' Award of Excellence, Long Contemporary
~~Finalist, 2005 Orange Rose Award, Long Contemporary

One Perfect Man/Silhouette Special Edition/2004
~~2005 Holt Medallion, Long Contemporary
~~2005 Write Touch Readers' Award, Long Contemporary
~~3rd place, 2005 More than Magic Award, Long Contemporary
~~Honorable Mention, 2005 Barclay Gold Award, Long Contemporary
~~Finalist, 2005 Colorado Romance Writers' Award of Excellence, Long Contemporary

Who's Your Daddy?/Simon Pulse/2004
~~Finalist, Colorado Endowment for the Humanities's Colorado Book Award, Young Adult Literature
~~2007 Evergreen Young Adult Book Award nominee
~~2005 ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers
~~2005 New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age
~~2005 National Readers' Choice Award, Young Adult Literature
~~2005 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, Young Adult Literature

Chicks Ahoy/Simon Pulse/2005
~~2006 ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers
~~2006 Books that Kids Love and Parents Hate, Cleveland Public Library System

The Other Sister/Silhouette Special Edition/2007
~~Nominee, 2007 Romantic Times BOOKCLUB Best Special Edition of the Year
~~Borders Group/Waldenbooks Series Romance Bestseller

www.LyndaSandoval.com

Reviews

[Qt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite a fun, easy, breezy read, good for summer. It's not the kind of book I usually go for, but it was still enjoyable and humorous reading about the friendship between Camille and Jiggy. The writing style is quite informal--it "sounds" just as though Camille were talking directly to the reader. All the slang and CAPITALS she uses were a little distracting and tiresome at first, but I soon got into it and enjoyed her "speaking" style.
I would have liked a bit more on the cruise ship aspect, but the focus was mostly on the girls' friendship and their respective problems which they try to work out over the course of the summer. A few issues seemed like they could have been filled out a little more, but then again, that would have made it less of a quick, fun book.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed by Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com

All Jane Goodall Yearling and Camille Tafoya wanted was to have the best summer ever before they entered their last year of high school. Hanging out with friends, doing whatever they wanted, and helping Camille to forget about that jerk, Brett. Unfortunately, the girls' freedom is replaced with their parents' supervision, all because Camille didn't do too well on her SATs.

So now they only get three choices for their summer vacation: hop on a plane and live with Jane's parents in Tanzania along with other primatologists; fly over and live in tents with Camille's mom; or work on Camille's dad's cruise ship. That's right, they would have to actually work. After comparing and contrasting their options, the girls believe that the best choice is to go on the cruise ship. It couldn't be too bad, right? It was much better than having to hang out with old people and there is Internet access, great food, and tons of new people (maybe even some cute guys).

But when the girls arrive on the ship, the other choices they once had seem to become more appealing. Turns out the ship is nowhere near a party ship, and the old people they were hoping to avoid are suddenly everywhere they turn. Well, all except for the guys who work on the ship, too. So maybe it won't be too bad. That is until Jane becomes the one that parties too much, and the girls' friendship is starting to diminish. So now it's up to Camille to control her friend and save her summer vacation.

CHICKS AHOY is a novel about friendship, finding your true self, and learning from your mistakes. Lynda Sandoval creates a cast of characters that are easy to relate to and the reader is able to witness each girls' obstacles firsthand. A coming-of-age novel that is perfect to read while lying on a beach or while on a cruise.

[Ashley Holstrom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Chicks Ahoy and its amazing humor. I was actually jealous of Camille and Jiggy's friendship and understanding of each other throughout their wild summer vacation. The writing style was fun to read and I could hardly put it down once I'd started reading. Great book!

[Ron · Rating 1 out of 5]

To Lynda's credit, she writes a fun story and tries to sneek in a life lesson, but the whole business is so improbable and immature. Do teen girls really act this stupid?

[Ravegirl172 · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is what a bad summer turns into a great one type of books.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent, breezy teen lit. Written the way a young girl speaks. The description on back wasn't really very accurate about the plotline though.....

[Olivia Somerville]

I have read other books by this author and enjoyed them. This book is relatable to teenage girls and sounds intriguing from reading the short paragraph about the book.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good accunt of the teen/young adult experience; the writing was dead on.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy breezy summer read.