The Boy Project: A Wish Novel: Notes and Observations of Kara McAllister

by Kami Kinard

Kara McAllister just had her best idea yet. She's going to take notes on all of the boys in her grade (and a few elsewhere) in order to answer a seemingly simple How can she find the right boy for her?

But Kara's project turns out to be a lot more complicated than she imagined. Soon there are secrets, lies, and an embarrassing incident in the boy's bathroom. Plus, Kara has to deal with mean girls, her slightly spacey BFF, and some surprising uses for duct tape. Still, if Kara's research leads her to the right boy, everything may just be worth it...

Jam-packed with charts and graphs, heart and humor, this novel will resonate with tweens everywhere.

Genres: Middle Grade, Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Humor, Fiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Kami Kinard likes being happy, therefore she loves art, reading good books, spending time with family, laughing with friends and watching Sherlock! She is not afraid to make ridiculous analogies, an obscure talent that serves her well. Check out her novels THE BOY PROJECT (Scholastic 2012) and THE BOY PROBLEM (Scholastic 2914).

A former high school English teacher, Kinard lives in coastal South Carolina with her family and the world's smartest dog.

Reviews

[Stephanie Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute book for younger teens. By the time you reach 7th grade, everyone has had a boyfriend! Or so Kara McAllister thinks. She is so upset because she is the only person who hasn't had a boyfriend, or even her first kiss! Even her best friend got her first kiss during spin the bottle! All Kara got was a lousy handshake. This is what gives Kara a great idea. She has to turn in her science fair project in a few weeks, and what would be better than to do a project on what makes a good soul mate (or boyfriend). She uses the scientific method and different charts, graphs, and surveys to create her data on her project. This witty book takes you places that no 7th grade girl should have to go, including the boys' bathroom! Kara has to go through the ins and outs of middle school drama: including liking her best friend's boyfriend, being teased by the "popular girls", and having to deal with "unfair teachers". I feel like this book is something that any girl, 4th through 8th grade, could really identify with. Kara feels like she is the only girl without a boyfriend and she learns throughout the book that it is okay to not have a boyfriend, and she is able to really discover that she is special in her own way. By being true to herself she is able to gain a lot of new friends, respect, and maybe even a boyfriend....


I loved the fact that the author was able to integrate the scientific method, bar graphs, circle graphs, line plots, and surveys into a cute book that any girl would love to read. In order to gather data for her project, she goes through some interesting situations. She even ends up in the boys' bathroom! It is easy to imagine this story as having actually happened. The situations that Kara gets put in are laughable and you are able to feel sorry for her as she is trying to maneuver her way through middle school.This is a quick read and a great book to help lift up your spirits! It is not a book that I would usually read, and it is certainly geared towards younger, female readers, but it was still enjoyable to me!

[Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book that both and I my daughters enjoyed. The girls liked it for the humor and how easily they connected with Kara. I liked it because it was refreshing to see a female character who was not only smart, but also not embarrassed by her brains and willing to use her intelligence to get what she wants. Bravo, Kara!

[Krazybooklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kara is the only one of the girls in her grade who has never had a boyfriend, so she decides to take steps to change that. Kara starts taking notes on the boys in her class and sometimes even the cute guy at the mall. She also starts taking notes on the girls in her class, including "Maybelline" and "The Vine," who always seem to have guys interested in them. Kara's project doesn't quite go as she anticipated, and she ends up getting herself into some embarrassing situations because of it. But along the way, she learns a lot and makes some important realizations.

I found The Boy Project to be hilarious. Several times I would read something funny out loud to my teenage daughter, who then grabbed the book to read as soon as I was done with it. It was truly like taking a trip back to junior high school. I think we all knew a "Maybelline" (the girl who always wore way too much makeup) and "The Vine" (the one who was always hanging all over the guys). Kami Kinard has written characters that are easy to relate to and has really captured the awkwardness of middle school/junior high. The charts and graphs were cute and funny and really enhanced the book. Usually the use of multiple exclamation marks bothers me, but it works here. This is an excellent book. I would recommend it for tweens, teens and adults who enjoy MG fiction (and maybe want to reminisce a little).

Reprinted from my blog Krazy Book Lady.

[Karissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

                        The Boy Project 
                    by: Karissa

Title: The Boy Project
Author: Kami Kinard 

                    "Unfortunately, when you're twelve, being small is a consolation for being the ONLY girl in your class who has NEVER had a boyfriend."
                    The Boy Project is about this girl named Kara who has NEVER had a boyfriend and all the girls in her class have had one.  So Kara starts this survey on all the guys in her grade to see what they want in a girl.  She starts liking this guy named Even but she finds out how much of a jerk he is for dumping her best friend.  So she ends up liking this guy named "Chip Tyler" a total geek!  After she finally gets advice from her sister.  
                    I like the Boy Project because it leaves you in suspense at some parts.  I also like it because it makes you want/have to read the rest.  It actually turns out to be a happy ending.  Makes you want to read the rest right?!? 
                    I recommend this book to people who like love kind of stories.  I also recommend it to people who like having a social life.  This book is great for girls who have never had a boyfriend!!(; 
               
                                           love, Karissa

P.S. Once you start reading the book you won't want to stop!!

[Laura Renegar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading the ARC of THE BOY PROJECT. Kami captured the voice of a middle schooler and whisked me back in time to the awkwardness and joys of those years. I laughed and cringed as Kara used the scientific method to try to figure out boys. My 9-year-old loved DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, and this was the same sort of fun with a smart, artsy girl as a main character. You can read her review at http://laurarenegar.blogspot.com/2011... .

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of this book - it will not be released from the publisher until January 2012.

Every middle school girl will love this book. Funny and clever.

Kara will be a positive role model - a smart girl who learns to be self confident and love herself despite not being in the "in crowd."

[Delaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked it. Kami Kinard really got my attention. I probably wouldn't have gone to the boys bathroom though. That is were I would have stopped and said " Is this really worth it?". Apparently Kara McAllister would.

[chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING! i think that the girl in the book makes good observations. a very goood book for girls.

[Mas5thgrade2012 · Rating 5 out of 5]

~PB+J23~

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 11-year-old daughter and I both thoroughly enjoyed this book. Real middle school issues are handled with humor and intelligence. We recommend it highly!

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a super book for late elementary and middle school aged kids. Precious and realistic storyline!

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

So yesterday I finished my book HOURS before I would get home and didn't have anything else with me to read. Luckily, I was at work, where the lounge has a book exchange-swap-type shelf. On said shelf was The Boy Project, along with several (okay, well, load of) other books that I passed up because I got all excited about the use of science (or at least the scientific method) to influence one's social situation. Being a nerd with social difficulties, I thought The Boy Project would be kind of fun.

I was wrong; it kind of stunk. Kara, the main character, was disturbingly boy-obsessed. But not so much 'cause she was into boys as much as it was because all the other girls were into boys. She was all, "Every other girl in the 8th grade has had a boyfriend; I must have a boyfriend, or I shall die of shame!" Really? Really? So when you boyfriend tells you all the other girls in the 8th grade have had sex with their boyfriends, are you going to to have sex with him? 'Cause that's where I see this headed, and I don't like it.

Now, to give the author some modicum of credit, I will acknowledge that Kara grew into a better person by the end of the book. Kind of. She still gave me the impression that she thought having a boyfriend was more important than everything else. Which is ridiculous. Having a special someone to spend time with, talk to, etc., etc., is important, yes. But it is not the singularly most important thing in the universe. But at least she learned that ever corny-but-true lesson about being true to oneself and realized that people can be more complex than they seem. (Though I'm not sure this one has really settled in and made a home in her brain; more like thrown a large sheet of canvas over a tree branch until it decides whether it wants to stay or not.)

However, despite this growth and self-acceptance and yadda-yadda, the middle half (between the first quarter and the last quarter) of this book made me alternately cringe and seethe at the awfulness of this girl's ideas. I wanted to smack her upside the head and tell her to grow up. Which she did do before the last page (though not as much as I would have liked). But worse than her belief that boyfriends are the end-all, be-all of life, I worry that girls between the ages of 10 and 13 will think she's right because she made a dress out of duct tape and she usually gets straight As. I just hope that, should there be any subsequent books, Kara continues to mature and remains open to proving herself wrong, thus encouraging similar growth in the youths who think she's cool.

[Marialena Vourthis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kara McAllister is taking notes on people to try to find what they are into and what they like to try to get noticed. Kara goes into the boys bathroom to take notes on boys but when she is trying to leave a boy catches her and Kara gets sent home. This one girl that is very mean brings a diaper for Kara that said GOTTA GO on it because Kara used an excuse saying "I really had to go and the girls bathroom was full." Kara is really good with duck tape so she uses duck tape and makes the diaper into a pretty purse. The next day everyone is asking Kara to make duck tape purses, wallets and even dresses.

[The_Voracious_Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I basically just read this book because I wanted to see what books girls my age usually like but I'm not saying that all girls will like this book (me included). this book is definitely not my favourite book but the ending was nice enough.
Im not a girly girl. I'm mostly a Tom boyish girl. but if you guys like this book I suggest reading the following books:
1. small medium at large
2. shug
3. crushing it
I also read some book which not my usual style but I actually liked the books:
1.puppy love by Jenny colins
2.trust me
3. he's with me

[Yessenia Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is for girls only if you are a guy and you will like to read it you can but it not the for a guy. It is about a girl that has never had a boyfriend and she is so sad about so she use something tat may or may not get her very first boyfriend. This book has a lot of drama and if you like drama then this book is for you.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter read this book and she is almost 12. She loved it because she said it is like reading a girls diary and said she would like to read future books by this same author!

[Bailey Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this book espeally with the mind of a real 7th grader

[Kaylea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked it! I was hooked and genarally effected by the things happening in the book. It was funny, sad, and just right-out entertaining. THIS WAS WHY BOOKS WERE MADE!!!

[Syd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it 4 my 2nd time and it is still - Amaze; awesome; cute; sweet; LOL; etc.

Suggest ages 12 and up

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not going to pretend that this book represents the middle school experience accurately but I will say that it represents a middle school girl's mind accurately. When I was in 7th grade, THE thing was to get a bf/gf. So while this book is certainly silly and frivolous, it's enjoyable and light. Kara is fun to read the the diary-type writing is always fun to read. It's a little concerning that all these 7th graders are concerned about their relationship status to an obsessive degree, but unfortunately that's what middle school is like now. When I was in MS, THE drama was about our grade's couples and on-again-off-again couple. Our 8th grade roast was mostly about the couples in the grade. So while it's easy to look down on this book and be like, "ew disgusting all this book does is teach young kids that they need to have an SO in order to have any worth in this school" I say to that, "no, it does not. It certainly seems that way but if you've been in middle school in the last 10 years, then you know how much of a thing it is now. And while Kara (the MC) is desperate to get a bf, she also grows as a character as she becomes much more self confident and proud of her artistic abilities." Plus, it's relatable to middle schoolers (who, by the way, are the target audience so if you can't relate to them because you're not that age then that's not the book's fault).

[Shelby]

i got this book at school book fair in 7th grade. i read it in a day and loved it. i reread as a 19 year old in about 3 hours. what the heck is this book. i promise yall having a bf isnt this deep ......

[jozie]

I HAVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR THIS BOOK FOREVER AND I FINALLY REMEMBERED THE NAME OF IT. I read this when I was like 11 and based my whole diary on it.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kara McAllister is the only girl in her grade that’s never had a boyfriend. She’s smart and creative but has no idea in the matters of the heart. Since her parents tell her if she can get all A’s they will give her unlimited texting, she decides to enter the science fair with a project that will help her get a boyfriend. She decides that she’ll observe guys and take notes in her notebook and flash cards.
She likes on guy in her grade, Evan. She gets her friend to sit with him at lunch with her so she can talk to him. Well, her BFF, Tabi, talks to him more than she does, but she’s happy just to be next to him… until she finds out that Tabi and Evan are now boyfriend and girlfriend.

It wouldn’t have happened if Kara hadn’t tried to get back at Chip, a boy in her grade and class, for taking her name off the attendance list. Chip is the class clown and the boy her only shook her hand when he was the one who was supposed to kiss her from a game of spin the bottle. She can’t stand him but she finds herself liking him a little bit more when she gets to know him when both have lunch detention. Will her project help her find a boyfriend?

I really liked this book. I always love books that have pictures and diagrams in it. The book had all of the flash cards that Kara made and even some graphs. I didn’t like Kara’s and Tabi’s relationship a lot because it was more one-sided. Kara always listened to what was going on with Tabi but never voiced her own problems. This a cute book that young girls will love.

[123nosayaba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kara McAllister:awkward, boy-crazy, and hilarious. Just my type of girl. Kara on her quest of boy "observations" (stalkings)has sent her far away and back. As she goes through this "scientific project" on her journey to find love, she ends up in sticky situations and finds the most abnormal ways to get out of them. One of her adventures even leads her to the boys bathroom. As rumors spread and couples break up, Kara observes all of these characteristics and makes charts,surveys, and other ways to express her data. On this crazy quirky way to find love, kara should be nicknamed as #1 Boy Expert cause she knows evvvverrrrryyyyything. This book was actually exciting to read. I found myself rushing to my next class to hurry and finish the next few chapters. This book includes ordinary things you see everyday and you never knew the extent of these tiny details. Kara McAllister is the one for me.

[Hana]

Wow, this book is amazing!! Starts off with Kara ( the main character) She did this project about how she can get a boyfriend. Her first person that thinks that could be a her soul mate is Evan, but turns out Tabs liked Evan so they started going out. Then Coleen the mean girl, took Evan away from Tabs, which really made Kara upset. Tabs quickly gets a new boyfriend. I think that Tabs wasn't really being a really good friend, because she keeps rubbing to Kara's face that she has a boyfriend. One day Kara was trying to listen to other people so she went to the janitors closet. Evan opened the door, and he kissed Kara. WHAT!?! After all Kara's research she ends up with the person you wouldn't imagine. Chip Tyler! In the beginning of the book Kara said "Ooh I'll never go out with Chip Tyler" At the end they end up liking each other, and Chip takes Kara and kissed her.

[Katy Griffey · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was enjoyable at first, It made me really mad when her best friend liked the guy that she liked and Kara DIDNT EVEN TELL HER! I mean how can you not tell your friend to back off. Then her friend would've probobly HELPED them get together and her friend wouldn't of gotten hurt and also Kara woulld've gotten the guy she wanted. And then maybe Maybelline wouldn't bother her as much if she DID get a boyfriend. And I'm sorry but if a guy found me in the restroom and KISSED me. I would've dated him, even if he did date my best friend because Kara did like him first. And then the fact that she got with him made everything a lot more stupid.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is told from the point of view of a 7th grader where relationships last 1-7 days, and navigating middle school is difficult. Kara decides to embark on a study of her classmates to find her soul mate and get into a relationship as soon as possible. Endevors that include a trip to the boys room, the principals office and finding surprising insight from her older sister are just a few of the mishaps that befall Kara as she tries to discreetly observe the boys and finds some facts along the way. A cute look at how to wiggle through life as a pre - teenager and its social challenges.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Boy Project is a cute, fun read that most middle school girls will devour. Kara is an eighth grader who uses the scientific method to pass science with an A in order to get unlimited texting from her parents, but more importantly, she uses it to find her perfect "soul mate." Told through journal entry style and 21st century lingo similar to The Princess Diaries and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Kara's story focuses on the experiences that every teenage girl will relate to. (I also really like how the author drops other great book titles into her characters' conversations.)

[Mary Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a cute book for early middle school girls but I will admit that it is very creepy how obsessed Kara is with boys. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being boy crazy in middle school but when one hands out quizzes to boys and girls in her grade to use the results to see what boy would be her best match, then one shouldn't be surprised if her methods are questioned and then called crazy.
*I will admit that it has been a while since I read this book so some things in this review may not be entirely correct but I tried to stick with what I could remember.