Girlfriend Material

by Melissa Kantor

If Kate were Lady Brett Ashley, the devastating heroine of Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises, she'd spend her summers careering around the Riviera in her coupe, breaking hearts by the dozen—because why not? In reality, Kate's never even had a boyfriend, and she'll be spending the summer abetting her mom's lame ploy to make her dad jealous: running off to Cape Cod and crashing at the seaside home of her wealthy friends, the Cooper-Melnicks. To add to the shame, the Cooper-Melnicks' gorgeous daughter Sarah is a bit like Lady Brett, and she seems less than thrilled to hang out with her new houseguest. Any dreams Kate once had of a perfect summer are ruined.

That is, until Sarah's cute, witty friend Adam starts drawing Kate into the fold—and seems intrigued. With Adam around, Kate feels like she just might have a bit of heartbreaker potential after all. But when a breezy summer romance quickly grows more complicated can Kate keep pretending her relationship with Adam is just a carefree fling? Or will she take the risk and tell him her real feelings? Suddenly Kate is asking herself a question she never thought she'd stoop to: Is she girlfriend material?

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Teen, Summer, Chick Lit, High School

251 pages, Hardcover

First published May 5, 2009

Reviews

[Srikari · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 Stars

I read this book as it was one of those kinda short books that you would probably read when you have a lot of work to do and you are taking a break from all the stress etc..... I read this before my English exam.
At first I have to admit that I was enjoying the laid back nature of the book and how the story line was flowing in that smooth manner which actually helps in stressful situations.
The whole book is basically about a girl named Kate whose mother and father are not able work things out and it is effecting her as she and her dad are closer than she and her mom (her sister and her mom are closer, its all cliched)and so her mom wants to spend more time with Kate.This leads to her mom planning a trip to Cape Cod with Kate over the summer which Kate is not happy about because she wants to stay at home and spend little time with her mom as possible. Events lead to Kate making friends with some of the people of her age in Cape Cod and she finds a guy called Adam and the obvious happens, they fall in 'LOVE' or so they call it. But later the book was a disappointment.




A book couldnt have been more bland.... The characters were so lifeless and i didnt feel connected or satisfied with even one of them.
It was so flat..there was literally nothing happening, all they did was breathe.
I think this book is meant to be read to a 6 year old girl as a bed time story....oh wait I think it would be sad either way.....

I felt really let down by this book as I am the type of person who needs a SENSIBLE . i also prefer books that dont put me to sleep as well, and this book seemed to have satisfied none of the above mentioned criteria,so well all i can say to that is One Big , Big, big Regret!

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Dianna Geers for TeensReadToo.com

Katie had the perfect summer in progress: hanging out at her best friend's house, creative writing classes, and tons of time to perfect her tennis game so she could make varsity the next school year. That is until her mom decides to take Katie along with her for "time away" from her father so they can reevaluate their relationship.

Katie wants to be home living her life and is mad that her mom drags her along to her mother's best friend Tina's house. In Cape Cod! But Katie decides she might be able to make the situation tolerable - she had visited there once before and gotten along well with Sarah, Tina`s daughter.

When Katie and her mom arrive, Katie realizes that Sarah is just as unhappy with Katie's arrival as she is. Sarah avoids Katie and makes it quite clear that Katie is not invited to her activities.

To help pass her time, Katie accepts an offer to coach a girl in tennis. She struggles to teach the young girl as the girl's father hounds her with criticisms.

Katie keeps trying and trying to make this summer living arrangement work for her. Each time she thinks she has made it doable, Katie finds out she is sorely wrong.

What will Sarah think when Katie starts hanging out with her friends?

And when Adam actually seems to like her..like LIKE her, there has to be a catch! She's not the girlfriend type. She's never had a boyfriend before. And those things just don't happen to Katie.

Or do they?

Will Katie's summer be a complete flop? Or will she manage to survive? Join Katie as she tries to survive outside of her comfort zone, and even learns that things are not always what you think they are at first. Sometimes they are WAY different.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

To this day, my favorite Kantor book is still Confessions of a Not It Girl.

I'm always pleased to pick up a book by Kantor, especially since she has a talent for writing from a teen's perspective. True, Girlfriend Material's protagonist used a bit too many immature "like"s but no real harm done. It sounded exactly like a teenager, just not like Dessen's witty and matured 17 year olds.

I liked Kate. Her personality consisted of a little of everything. And while others would say that this was the perfect girl or something, I don't think so. Books, movies, and television tends to lean towards a cliched version of a person, which makes most people people that a girl can be pretty but stupid, smart but mediocre looking, athletic but has an attitude problem, and sweet but . . . you get the point. So here's a character that, like I said, has a bit of everything, which makes her so real. She's smart and likes to read. She's athletic but she's also a girly girl too. She's confident but she's also shy. Anyone would find themselves relating to her.

Cute storyline. A bit typical at times, especially when it concerned Adam. It's a classic I-have-a-girlfriend-but-we're-on-a-break-so-let's-date-now scenario, complete with an I'll-ditch-my-girlfriend-because-I-think-I'm-falling-in-love-with-you-now ending. Sweet, but overused.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Girlfriend Material is a quick, cute, summer read! It would be excellent to throw in your bag for a day at the beach.

While initially I was expecting quite a bit a fluff, perhaps a summer fling romance, there were some deeper elements at play in this novel. It’s more about Kate discovering what type of girl she is, not so much “girlfriend.” Deeper element number 1) finding your place when your parents are having problems. Number 2) sibling jealousy, overcoming the closeness you feel one sibling has with a parent and opening yourself up. Number 3) realizing besides being parents, they are also human. Number 4) don’t be quick to judge.

And then on top of all that we have this budding relationship between Kate and Adam. It plays out nicely in the beginning stages of the relationship, has a rocky spot in the middle, but instead of progressing steadily as it did in the early stages, there is a race to the finish, that made it just a tad bit to unbelievable for me, even if it’s only fiction.

The writing was fun, and enjoyable. The story flowed nicely, but as I said above, the ending was rushed. The characters were realistic, and relatable, each one adding their own element to the story line. Definitely reading material..

[madison · Rating 2 out of 5]

ok moving on

[Krissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read this 5 times in my life and it is still one of my favs. It is cliched, cheesy, but it is such a comfort read for me. My favourite part was the dramatic, sometimes self-depreciating inner monologue Kate had going on

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up Girlfriend Material because I loved Kantor's Maybe One Day, but this book fell a little flat in comparison.

The synopsis of the book is that teen Kate (alternately called Katie, though she hates that; she thinks it sounds babyish) is going on a summer vacation with her mother to Cape Cod. A summer vacation that Kate does not want. She had plans to hang out with her best friend and enroll in a summer writing class. But her parents are having a rough time, and Kate's mother decides to get away and take Kate with her, probably to spend some quality time together. Of course, Kate's feelings about the trip begin to change when she meets cute boy Adam Carpenter.

It's a perfect summer read. Cute romance. A beach. What could be better? Well.

I can honestly say that I didn't like Kate very much, and this is a big problem, as she is the main character and the voice of the book. I just thought she was kind of whiney. She overthinks things and goes on and on about them - basically, she's anxious. And that's not to say that an anxious character can't be a good one... just Kate's anxiety is more exhausting than amusing. But besides all that, she has the kind of know-it-all personality that I probably wouldn't like in real life. She seems to have this notion that her flaws are because she's better than everyone else. Seriously.

Take when Kate and her best friend Laura, make a list comparing themselves to the girls in their school who had boyfriends:

After we finished the list, we high-fived. No wonder the guys are our school didn't want to go out with us. Like my dad had said, we were waaay too cool for them.

Or when Kate sees Adam at the library:

"I wouldn't have pegged you as a comic book reader," I said. I was a little disappointed, actually. After he'd said that thing about reading Lolita, I'd assumed he was really into literature...

She's just... pretentious. And that made it hard to like her as a narrator.

Now on to the main plot: it's not too different from any other summer romance: the plot is the romance. However, I didn't really like Kate and Adam together. Their fling felt a bit forced. I don't really understand why they liked each other.

And finally, the ending was just... rushed. This big problem that they're supposed to face doesn't really feel like a big problem, as it's fixed within the span of a day or two.

I don't know. I just wasn't a fan of this book. But I have to say that it is suited for a quick summer read (it is a quick and easy read, and it's a standalone, so there's no awful cliffhanger.) So maybe this is one that you'll take to the beach with you, just to have something to do.

[Kai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review at Amaterasu reads

I was given the impression that this would be a fun summer read, but this had a more serious tone than a fluffy novel should have, you'll notice the depth of the story as you go along.

A summer with her parents apart, not being able to play tennis with Laura, leaving her writing class, spending it without her best friend, trying to get along with someone she knew from when she was little who turned out to be totally different now that they're grown ups, bonding with her mom three thousand miles away from home, and dealing with the intricacies of first love, things are bound to get awkward for her, one way or another.

What made this book interesting for me, aside from Kate dealing with what was happening to her parents, was her first plunge on love, boys and relationships. You can feel how uncertain she was on a lot of things, how to act, and how to think. And frankly speaking, if she wasn't thinking too much ahead and judging too quickly, things could have turned out easier for her.

And I'd like to think that this Lady Brett gave Kate more trouble than she could ever hope to have. In her hopes of living her life like her role model, her summer had unexpected twists and turns because she always thought: WWLBAD? (What Would Lady Brett Ashley Do?).

Every character in the book felt significant, and played a role in Kate's story. I loved how she was able to reconnect with Sarah. I'd always love reading stories about friends and knowing that they'll be there for you if you ever needed them.

I'm giving this a four stars because of how much I was able to relate to Kate's character, and Melissa Kantor, I now realized, has a talent of writing from a teen's perspective, in a way which you can easily relate to, with a small dose of angst along the way. :)

I don't have a favorite Kantor book right now, but I'd definitely read her book again if I have the chance!

[Sarah Hipple · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sort of book that leaves you with a smile on your face. It's a fun, light read.

Kate’s summer had just been up-ended by her mom. Her mom and dad are having another one of their fights, but this time her mom has decided to drag Kate away from her home in Salt Lake and her perfectly planned summer to visit with old friends on Cape Cod. Old friends Kate hasn’t seen in ten years.

First there’s the daughter who doesn’t really want Kate around, then there���s the realization that maybe this fight between her parents is more serious than Kate had originally thought. And throughout all that, there’s the boy Kate really, really likes even if she’s having a hard time admitting it to him.

I really liked Kate. She loves to read and write and she just wants to have a good summer. Sometimes this sort of book is heavy on the melodrama, and Kate’s understandable reactions to everything that was going on were part of why I liked her so much.

[Jordyn Michelle]

Going to crack it open in a day or two...

[Emma Van]

I read Girlfriend Material by Melissa Kantor. The story takes place with Katie, the narrator, and her mother on a road trip from Salt Lake City to the airport. They are headed for Cape Cod in New York. She is leaving behind her best friend and her dad for the summer. They are going to see Kates moms best friend from college. She also has a daughter named Sarah. Kate sees this as a threat because Sarah is older, popular, and gorgeous. It is going to take a lot of ups and downs for Kate and Sarah to get along as well as Kate to feel comfortable in Cape Cod. All hearts drop when Kate meets Adam. My favorite character is Sarah, because in the beginning of the book she is seen as the bad person and as the book advances she becomes the narrator's best friend. Yes, because they could be realistic characters. The story did not really keep me guessing because every love story is almost the same. The part where Kate and Adam shared their first kiss together was my favorite part, because it was like a movie scene and they were on a beach. I did not cry nor laugh when reading the book. Yes, the story was interesting to keep me into the book. I wish the book had more of an ending, it just ended suddenly. Some scenes were sad throughout the story, like the ones were heartbreak happened. I recommend this book to everyone that is looking for a little romance story. I would give it a nine out of ten.

[Daisy Z. · Rating 5 out of 5]

SCHOOLS OUT! IT'S FINALLY SUMMER!!! Katy has the perfect summer planed. Her and her best friend swear that this summer is going to be the absolute best. Except Katy's mother left out a huge important piece of information. She never even mentioned the fact that she also had plans and those plans where in.... BOSTON! Katy's mom already had the plane tickets and everything. So there's no way Katy can get out of this. What made Katy even more furious was the fact that she was the only other family member who had to go. No'r her farther, brother, or sister had to go.
Katy and her mother get to Boston. They stay with an old friend of her mothers. The first couple of days were a little rough on Katy. But after a while she made friends. One of her friends was a guy named Brandon. Katy and Brandon's friendship turns into a little bit more than just a friendship. Katy's in love. She gets so caught up in her relationship with Brandon she totally forgets that she lives completely across the world from him....!!!

[Avalyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I figured it would be an easy read while on vacation. Also considering it’s a summery book I figured it would put me in a summery mood. The book was ok at best. Was it easy to read? Yes, almost too easy. I found myself wanting to skip ahead because I felt like I already knew what was going to happen. I know this is a young adult romance, but I feel like my 10 year old brother could read this and easily understand it. Also I thought Kate was a very stereotypical teenager. As a single 19 year old I could slightly relate to her, but I also felt like she was over the top teenager a lot of the time which was pretty annoying. I did finish the book so that counts for something.

[𐐪𐑂 ♡ ZOE 𐐪𐑂 ° · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. It was okay, it’s something you see in a middle school library. It was recommended by a close friend so I wanted to finish for her but I had to force myself. It would’ve taken me two days but I stopped for a week.
According to my reading app it took me six hours and thirty minutes. It was cliche and somewhat predictable. Not the ending I was hoping for. I get the book is old but some things I just didn’t really like. It helped get out of a reading slump but the plot just could’ve been better.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. Nice light read. Typical teen romance novel.

EDIT: I am adding one star, in fact one and a half. This was a very sweet, wholesome story and the characters really captured young people well without being too angsty. I am cynical, middle-aged and divorcing and I really need to set that aside and see this novel for what it is.

[Tyra Belle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t really enjoy this book. Characters were so lifeless and flat. All white people, no diversity at all. I felt like Kate’s line about slavery and the holocaust was incredibly insensitive. The romance between Kate and Adam felt rushed and overall I just found the book incredibly boring.

[Caitlyn O’Grady · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book but i lowkey hated the way it ended bc I wanted more and I also feel like the relationship in the book could have been a bit stronger but overall I’m like happy with the book I thought it was good

[~just one hopeless romantic~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had just the right amount of romance, funniness, and wit! I loved the characters and their personalities. However, I wished that there was more background on Kate and Sarah’s relationship when they were younger. I loved everything about this book.

[Isabelle | Nine Tale Vixen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely an above-average summer read. Adam was cute and sweet, and I enjoyed watching the friendships shift and change. I think I'd describe it as idyllic - soft, happy teenage summers.

[Angie Stephans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great message for girls & being insecure about boys, life, etc.

[Krystle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet, upper east coast summer romance.

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't remember reading this but I know I read it years ago.

[Nidhi]

it sounds like a lot of romance going on in the book when I read the summary

[Alexandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book was not my cup of too I was expecting a better plot one that keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting to read page by page but ut dragged. I would not recommend it.

[emily]

I read this book too long ago to remember enough, much less give it a rating. (If I were to rate it, I’d rate it somewhere in the middle spectrum).

[ncbookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book in middle school. Beachy/small town vibes and romance:)

[Henna · Rating 3 out of 5]

the book moved really fast if your in a reading slump or don’t have time to read it’s a good quick romance but i didn’t like how it ended after only solving one of the conflicts

[Karen Mennenga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great YA book ...

[abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

short and sweet, i loved!!
she SHOULD NOT have gotten back with that manipulative, conniving, dictator tho 😞

[Sarah Roberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meep