Sticky Fingers

by Niki Burnham

Busting my ass makes me feel good.

Bulletproof, that's how Jenna Kassarian sees herself. It's all about control: As long as she works hard, nothing can hurt her. So Jenna constantly pushes -- for perfect grades, the ideal boyfriend, the best, best friend.

The only problem is, she doesn't know if she can stop. If she relaxes even for a second, she's afraid she'll lose control completely.

Then Jenna decides it's now or never. She goes to a party and has one drink. But one drink is all it takes for her perfect facade to shatter. Suddenly she realizes straight A's can't protect you in the real world.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Coming Of Age, Fiction

274 pages, Paperback

First published August 23, 2005

About the author

Niki Burnham is the pseudonym of romance author Nicole Burnham.

You can subscribe to Nicole's newsletter for reader bonuses and the latest news by visiting https://nicoleburnham.com/new-events/
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NOTE FROM NICOLE: My Goodreads library is by no means comprehensive. I have thousands of books on my real (as opposed to my Goodreads) bookshelves. However, my Goodreads library only contains those books I'd give four or five stars and would recommend to friends without hesitation (and I haven't even gotten around to listing all those yet!)

Reviews

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com

Jenna Kassarian strives to have everything in her life exactly how she wants it--perfect. She has the perfect boyfriend, the perfect friend, and the perfect grades that got her into the top college of her choice. Jenna enjoys working hard because, in the end, it actually pays off. Now that everything seems to be going her way, and it's her last year of high school, all she wants to do, well, actually all her boyfriend wants her to do, is relax and enjoy life. Unfortunately for Jenna, relaxing just isn't in her vocabulary.

So now Jenna is trying her best to let go and have fun. That's not at all possible if what she has worked for has started to change. Her best friend is beginning to act weird and her boyfriend is pressuring her even more for their "first time". Along with that, it seems like her best friend is keeping something from her, something that just might have to do with Jenna's boyfriend.

But all Jenna needs to do is fix the problems around her. Change everything back to the way things were before. Easy, right? Well, when Jenna finally decides to let loose for once, things start to tumble around her and the people that she thought she knew turn out to be her downfall.

Different from all of her other works, Niki Burnham's novel STICKY FINGERS has a message that the reader won't know about until the very end. STICKY FINGERS is a novel that everyone should read and take into consideration. Even though the novel is fictional, the ending is the truth and could happen to anyone.

[Katya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is what's on the back:

Bulletproof, that's how Jenna Kassarian sees herself. It's all about control: As long as she works hard, nothing can hurt her. So Jenna constantly pushes -- for perfect grades, the ideal boyfriend, the best, best friend.

The only problem is, she doesn't know if she can stop. If she relaxes even for a second, she's afraid she'll lose control completely.

Then Jenna decides it's now or never. She goes to a party and has one drink. But one drink is all it takes for her perfect facade to shatter. Suddenly she realizes straight A's can't protect you in the real world.

My account:

This book was a gripper to say the least, SO GOOD. Its really, really sad too. This girl who gets really good grades gets this boyfriend who is unresistable and keeps pressuring her to do stuff with him. You'll see what happens.

[Steph | bookedinsaigon · Rating 2 out of 5]

High school senior Jenna Kossarian is on the right track of life. She has a perfect long-term boyfriend Scott, an amazing best friend Courtney, and has just recently been accepted early action to Harvard. Life couldn’t be any better, in her opinion.

There’s only one thing that’s annoying her now. Scott keeps on pressuring her to have sex. They’ve been together for more than a year, he argues, and they sincerely love each other. Why not just do it? But every time the situation arises, Jenna hesitates, feeling that something’s not right. Immediately she feels ashamed that she’s being such an inexperienced prude. Her internal conflict over whether or not she should have sex with Scott drives the novel to a scary conclusion.

STICKY FINGERS was a pretty good read. For its rather short length, the characters are remarkably well-developed, dealing with real issues. It’s hard to label the characters as definitely good or definitely bad, which is just fine, since black and whites don’t exist in the real world either. I wouldn’t recommend this book for anyone younger than 14, because it deals a lot with sex, but for high schoolers looking for a good read, this is my choice.

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because I knew what one of its core conflicts was: whether or not the main character Jenna, a high school senior, is ready to lose her virginity. I wanted to see what message books like these send our young girls. While I may not have liked everything in the book, I realized this is reality. I wouldn't recommend it necessarily, but it was good for me to see what kind of literature high school girls have at their fingertips.

[Apollos.Dark.Eden_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

O M G !!!!!! U NEED TO READ THIS BOOK CUZ... HS! I CAN'T TYPE IT ALL! BUT ONE THING I HAVE TO TYPE IS ULL NEVER GUESS WHO DOES WHAT! THE BOOK IS LIKE: WOW HES A JERK!
u NEED 2 read.... LIKE NOW!

[Jordyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like this had no plot. I think the climax should have been the big conflict and then the rest of the book, how she dealt with it. It seemed like she had no personal flaws.

[Megan Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book hit waaay closer to home than I anticipated. Trying to follow the high school norms while navigating relationships, college admissions, and priorities. I couldn’t put the book down and finished it in one sitting. Easy read, but tough topics that a lot of women have gone through or know someone who has.

THANKS FOR THE BOOK REC BEFF!

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt I should start to read some real teeny-real life books, and this was one of them.

I liked it. I didn't really like it and I didn't love it. I felt that it didn't really have a plot, and it all led up to the last say couple of chapters, which of course was fine, but I was reading the book solely to get to the major thing - which was major but not as major as I thought. I thought it was going to be more about how she would cope with her boyfriend giving her the date rape drug - or if her boyfriend actually had gone through with sleeping with her under the influence. I know that it isn't right, but by the blurb you expect that to happen. It was a slight let down but overall I did enjoy it. I guessed about Scott, he seemed like a nice guy, but nice guys usually turn out to be bad guys in some way, and this was peer pressuring Jenna Kasarian (main character) to sleep with him.

I felt that the author dealt with peer pressure and sex very well, especially with the main character deliberating, but then realising that it just wasn't for her; it didn't make anything wrong with her if she was more interested in staying in control of her life, not complicating situations and making sure it was right for her, not letting others around her influence her. And obviously with the GBH and date rape drugs it is a more common issue to date than ever before. It was a good story line, but it took too long to get to the climax and it just ended really, without more oomph to it.

The characters were developed well - enough detail to imagine the individuals.

What I liked also was that I could relate to Jenna regarding the work and going out - I am definitely one for get togethers that aren't crazy party where everyone just gets wasted. On the odd occasion yes, but not continually it just isn't me. So it was nice to see characters like this...

Overall though it was enjoyable with a believeable plot and very current problems in the world of teenagers, adressing them thoroughly, and carefully and ther definitely were hidden meanings to take from it, promoting individualness and being comfortable with one self. Negative just that it wasn't what I expected - not enough about the aftermath, just a long story to get to the finale which was a bit predictable...

[Tanna Rothert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the book Sticky Fingers, By Niki Burnham. Sticky Fingers is a novel based on a teenage girls life. Her name is Jenna. She is a straight A student and was just accepted into Harvard University. Her boyfriend, Scott, applied as well but was rejected. Scott is also a straight A student and very athletic. He is a down to earth guy until he begins to pressure Jenna into premarital things. When Jenna repeatedly denis Scotts request he decides to slip a drug into her drink during a party, hoping it would calm her enough to accept his request. When Jenna ends up in the hospital she breaks up with her boyfriend and was recovering. The authors purpose of Sticky Fingers, was to inform the readers that you should not feel pressured into things that you don’t want to do. Jenna had never drank in her life or been to alot of parties. If Jenna wouldn’t of feeled pressured to drink or do other things she would’ve never ended up in the hospital.

The theme of my book is making smart choices. The main character Jenna had made smart decisions all through her years of high school. She did all of her homework the day it was given, never stayed out after curfew, and never got in trouble. When she decided to drink and go to a party she ended up in the hospital being slipped the date-rate drug by her boyfriend, Scott.

The style of my book was very influencing and descriptive. The story of Jenna and Scott is descriptive in what he did to her. The way she felt after she drank and how she became loopy and her lose of memory. Its influencing because I would never want to put myself or my body in danger by one decision i knew was wrong.

My opinion is that i would recommend this book to everyone, except ally people my age. It is a very good book with many surprises and a shocking ending. I don’t dislike anythings about this book. I think it is most interesting because its easy to relate with understand the characters problems. I’ve never read another book like it, its original and has a great perspective.

[Becca Norrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stick Fingers was definitely a relatable book because it was based around small group of kids, in their high school days, dealing with the everyday pressures of drugs, relationships, popularity, and getting into college. Jenna is a usual high school senior. She has good grades, and a boyfriend, who she loves, and amazing friends and family. She wants to get into Harvard, along with her boyfriend, Scott. They have the normal partying weekends, but not every weekend comes without difficulties. This book is placed around Christmas time, in a small town, covered in nothing by snow. I liked this book because it felt like it was a real story. I could really bring myself to understand it deeply. I didn’t like some parts where the story would just add “fluff” detail and wonder off to other parts. I think almost every teenage girl I know would really enjoy this book. This book reminds me of something that would happen even now in school. It reminds me of those couples who think they really know each other, and think neither would ever hurt the other, then they come running and crying to their friends that they thought the other would never hurt them. Sticky Fingers is a very interesting book, with real life situation, real life everyday situations, and relatable moments of having a job, boyfriend, and getting good grades. This book helps to understand what to do if you’re ever pressured to do something you don’t want, and to really trust your best friends when they say something, even if you don’t want to believe it.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book becuase i usually like books that has to do with these kinds of situtaions. this book started off very very slow but over all i am very happy i finished this book it was not predictable at all unlike other books. this book has very long chapters but the pages are really short i think i read like 5 pages in less than 5 min. in a way this book kind of scared me becuase this boy that a girl loved and has been dateing in over a year had just done the worst possible thing ever becuase he was thinking with his pants not his little pwueny BRAIN! A brife summary of this book is a smart goody goody got exceppted into Havord and she was a girl that would stay home all hte time on weekends and blow people off to do homework (so she is a nerd) and her boyfriend didnt get into school so that alredy got them into a rocky situation and he was pushing this sex thing that he wanted to do it so bad and she just didnt want toso she kept blowing him off and saying "no" and eventually he got fed up with it and decided to give her the date rape drug at a party and her friend courtney found out about it but didnt do anything becuase she had some issues with her ownself and she didnt want them to get out in the open. so she had to keep her bestfriends boyfriend's secrect on the down low. so yadda yadda at the end of the book jenna end's up in the E.R becuase of this and im not going to tell u the end becuase you just have to read it!!

[Lesleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

High school senior Jenna Kossarian is on the right track of life. She has a perfect long-term boyfriend Scott, an amazing best friend Courtney, and has just recently been accepted early action to Harvard. Life couldnt be any better, in her opinion.

Theres only one thing thats annoying her now. Scott keeps on pressuring her to have sex. They've been together for more than a year, he argues, and they sincerely love each other. Why not just do it? But every time the situation arises, Jenna hesitates, feeling that somethings not right. Immediately she feels ashamed that shes being such an inexperienced prude. Her internal conflict over whether or not she should have sex with Scott drives the novel to a scary conclusion.

Sticky Fingers was a pretty good read. For it's rather short length, the characters are remarkably well-developed, dealing with real issues. It's hard to label the characters as definitely good or definitely bad, which is just fine, since black and whites don't exist in the real world either. I wouldn't recommend this book for anyone younger than 14, because it deals a lot with sex, but for high schoolers looking for a good read, this is my choice.

[Cuddle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing happened in this book until the very end, and that wasn't even exciting. Jenna is boring. Her boyfriend is boring. Her best friend is the only one with any spunk. The author could have really gone somewhere more emotional with the...

************************************SPOILER*******************************************


The author could have really gone somewhere more emotional with the date rape drug storyline. Instead nothing happens, Jenna gets sick. There are probably better YA books out there that deal with date rape better than this. Do not recommend.

[Maggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not bad but not what I expected. It started out with Jenna, a senior who got excepted to Harvard. Her best friend is starting to act different and her boyfriend wants to take the next step, which she is not ready to do. I don't want to spoil the end but it continues slowly and then with in the last thirty pages things start to change quickly and it's not an ending you expect. Personally it would not be a book that I would re-read because it was slow.

[Geli · Rating 3 out of 5]

When beginning this novel I was excited considering it was written by Niki Burnham. After a while I began to wonder when the excitement was to going to begin. For a bit it just seemed to drag on but once the ending came it all made sense. I thank Niki Burnham on writing this novel. I think it has a very important message with it. I encourage all girls to give this book a read. See what you get out of it.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I've been waiting to read this for like 3 years and now I have!! yay....I found it in a used bookstore in Tallahassee. It was good, but not what I expected. It wasn't the type of story that I was expecting. I did love the power and strength of the main character because I can definitely relate to feeling bulletproof because of working my ass off in school. It was good and I would recommend it to any teenage girl preparing to go off to college of just being in a relationship.

[Wildgrace · Rating 5 out of 5]

NOw this is a book that every girl needs to read. In this book there are events that take place that could happen to any of us and we need to be aware of them.

[Tee loves Kyle Jacobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great! I read it in one night because I did not want to put it down! Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sarina Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

My goodness, this was awful.

Let me start this by stating the reason I read this book in the first place. Me and my friend happened by a little used book store near my college campus, which mainly sells textbooks but has a generously sized fiction section with books that were beautifully cheap. There was a 2 for $1 sale in one of the sections, so we both decided to pick up to books and get them.
I thought, since I was only spending one dollar, that I might as well use this as an opportunity to pick up the most ridiculous looking trashy book I could find. When I saw a book called “sticky fingers” with a horrendous cover and vague synopsis, me and my friend laughed and I decided to get it and see how bad it could be, expecting a shitty smutty romance at the worst.

Instead, it is a 300 paged book of absolutely nothing until the very end when they try to topple a serious topic in the WORST. POSSIBLE. WAY.

Basically, the first 250 pages of the book are about how the main character is stressed because her friend stole a bottle of nail polish from CVS. Literally the entire thing is about her thinking her friend has become a terrible person because she stole one bottle of nail polish… what the actual fuck.
Then, in the last 20 pages, her boyfriend roofies her drink. This was the authors attempt to talk about a serious issue, but like, it happened within the last 20 pages and it was discussed for like 2 pages and then the book ended…
And it turns out that the girls friend knew all along that he was planning on roofieing her drunk but didn’t warn her because he said he would tell the police that she stole nail polish from cvs.
And get this, in the beginning of the story after the main character finds out her friend stole a bottle of nail polish, she genuinely thinks that this could be detrimental to their friendship and considers not being her friend anymore… but when she finds out that her friend knew her boyfriend was considering drugging and r*ping her, she forgive her immediately. What the actual fuck??
This book was just awful. 250 pages of the main character sad that her friend stole nail polish, and then 20 pages of a horrendous attempt at toppling a serious topic by quickly mentioning it and then the story ending.

I was expecting a shitty book, but I don’t have words for this. Riverdale could do better, and I don’t say that lightly.

[Kristal Hutson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary - This book is based on a teenage girls life. Jenna Kassarian, is a student who was accepted to Harvard University while her bf Scott who was rejected but just wants sex in a relationship. As Jena rejects her bf Scott because she doesn't want to be pressured into a sex life her bf decides to put drugs in her drink at a party hoping that she will not reject his request but Jenna ends up going to the hospital. While Jenna was in the hospital she realizes that Scott puts drugs in her drink and how much he's been pressing her to have sex she breaks up the relationship. I think what the author is saying that you shouldn't feel pressured into things you don't want to do.


Compare/contrast -
This book doesn't really compare to my life. But all I can say is being pressured by others things is hard but I've never had a relationship that the male just wants sex.

Like + dislikes
I like this book because it's very interesting and I like how she works hard for her goals instead of goofing off. I don't like how Jenna constantly pushes her self and if she stops she will lose control.

[Lyndsey Estes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite book that I have read this year. I loved the story and I think it was because I could relate to it. The book is about high school students and the stresses of college and drama with best friends and boyfriends. I would recommend this book for high school girls. I also really liked this book because it is spreading awareness about rape date drugs that are becoming a huge problem at parties. The author leaves a note with some tips to avoid these drugs. The book was really fun to read and I really enjoyed it.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good writing, but this is more of a teen read. Not what I was expecting from the cover or blurb on the back. It's about a super driven young lady, Jenna who likes her life as a driven, goal oriented person. We go with her through friendship drama and of course the do I have sex with my boyfriend or not debate.

[Missy Dent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely more of a YA book with the writing. Gived the whole smart and straight laced girl with the hot boyfriend who decides to date rape drug her to loosen her up for sex but is not successful at all. It's her life lesson but honestly there was just way too much of a build up. 85% of the book happened before that happened and then she was better off without him. Boom. Happily ever after.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book

This book has a powerful message. How this story was executed though was lacking. I also felt notes of nostalgia because it was set in 2005 the same time I was in High School.

[Elyse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was extremely short. Two best friends have fallout because of shoplifting. They both have boyfriends but one of the relationships never goes all the way. Since she doesn’t want to go all the way he roofies her.

[Cassie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my favorite

[Ray boycott Reading Challenges until they fix app · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to think of this one. It attempts to tackle the issue of sexual assault, but buried under other things and it does have a tendency to come off as an after school special (or in other words, your typical early-mid 2000's YA novel).

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this novel! But Scott was dumb. People can be idiots. Jenna's best friend is Courtney and she (c) is dating Matt. Jenna is dating Scott. Everything is going well as the description says until Courtney and Jenna go shopping for Christmas or something. While in a store Jenna sees Courtney sneakily push so nail polish in her bag. Jenna doesn't know what to do at the time but she kind of gives hints to C. This created tension between them. After Jenna learns she was accepted into Harvard for early admission and Scott didn't he tries to pressure Jenna into sex. Jenna just doesn't want to do it (which doesn't bother me). They end up almost doing it but they don't. This also produces tension. C leaves one day and Matt and Jenna talk. Jenna learns how great Matt is and that he's a great guy and a great guy for Courtney. Courtney gives Jenna a necklace for being accepted into Harvard and a fancy shirt for Christmas. About 3/4 through the novel (it could be when j and m talked one on one) Matt tells j he thinks something is wrong with C. (They also had sex earlier in the novel (it's another reason why Jenna is pressured)). Her parents got divorced and she seems different. Jenna understands that he is worrying but that she'll talk to C. Earlier J talked to C's sister. She also thinks C is acting different. C has also been looking very skinny. Her excuse is that she has to watch her weight now before her dad takes the treadmill with him (not how you have successful weight loss). Matt is also suspicious because he saw Scott and C talking at Dunkin Donuts. So Scott convinces J that they should go to a party because it's the last weekend for Christmas break and she needs to loosen up. At the party everything is going fine but then Scott gets Jenna a beer. C and J get in a little argument about if Jenna is going to drink. But then she starts feeling weird. Someone bumps into Jenna and Courtney says 'you did it didn't you?' Jenna is confused and Scott tells C Jenna is fine. Jenna starts feeling worse and Scott says he'll take her home. Courtney is escorting her, Jenna starts vomiting like she never has before. Courtney takes her to the hospital. When Jenna wakes up her mom how much alcohol was in her system. It turns out she had date rape drug in her drink. Awhile later Courtney says it was her fault because the rookie wouldn't have been in her drink if it wasn't for her. C explains on pg 250-260. Scott calls asking for forgiveness but Jenna says he never really loved her. He loved his former girlfriend and Jenna was his safety girlfriend. After the call Jenna is glad she didn't have sex with Scott. The epilogue it is next fall. Scott went to Harvard but the two don't talk to one another. Courtney is at BU and still is with Matt. She's going to counselling for shoplifting. J is dating Ryan, who her cousin introduced her to, who is from the Boston area. He heard about the girl who got a roofie in her drink but he doesn't know it was her. They seem really happy.
The night before Jenna and Scott went bowling she overhear him talking to one of the guys working out on the dock. He introduced her to some of them and they seemed nice. She was out there on her break, and she hear the guy offering to sell Scott some kind of drug. Scott seemed interested and he asked how strong it was and everything. Courtney is crying at this point. When her shift was over they went to Dunkin’ Donuts. She lied to Mat about it and she felt bad. At DD she told Scott she overhear what he was saying. At first he denied it but then he admitted to it. He didn’t buy any but he told her about a lame story about the basketball team. Courtney said she was going to tell Jenna. Then they started an argument. Eventually Courtney says Scott was asking about it because he told the guy he was talking to that they hadn’t done it yet. The guy said Jenna just need to calm down which is was the roofie would do. Courtney warned him about the dangers of the drug. She was going to beat him up if he did it. Courtney didn’t tell Jenna because she didn’t think he would do it, and because he threatened to rate her out for shoplifting. Scott told Courtney Jenna suspected her of stealing and she was scared she’d lose her friendship. She ended up stealing the nail polish, the skirt, packs of gum, but not the necklace. She didn’t have any reason to steal it. Courtney told them about the stealing when she told the story about the drug.

[Mackenzie Miller]

In the book "Sticky Fingers" our main character Jenna Kassarian is a senior in high school who's life long dream is to get into an Ivy League school. She gets a letter int he mail and it informs her that she got accepted into Harvard. Her boyfriend, Scott, had also applied to Harvard and they thought they had everything figured out to be together next year. When Scott find out that he didn't get accepted all of those plans began to change. Scott and Jenna were pretty serious and they both though they were ready to take another step in their relationship. They went to one of their favorite places to be alone together after going out and celebrating and decided that now was the time that they should do it. Something about it all doesn't feel right to Jenna so she stops him. After this Scott began to pressure Jenna into having sex with him even after she has stated to him that she isn't ready yet. Jenna's best friend Courtney seems like the most perfect friend Jenna could ever as for, and Scott was by far greater than she could ever imagine. Jenna started to get suspicious that something was going on between Scott and Courtney because she had seen them together in places that weren't work and they looked like something serious was going on. Jenna tried to push that thought to the back of her head while her, Scott, Courtney, and her boyfriend, Matt, go to a party over Christmas break. Jenna wasn't much of a party person because she was always too worried about her schooling and getting good grade. Jenna agrees to have one drink and that's where she messed up. Scott disappears for while and then comes back with Jenna's drink. She only takes a couple sips and then decides that she didn't want anymore so she poured it out. A little while later she begins to feel sick. She can hardly stand up and walk and she gets really confused because she knew she wasn't drunk. Courtney sees what is happening and becomes very worried and decided it was time for her to take Jenna to the hospital. Scott gets very angry at this and tries to stop her but Courtney wouldn't back down. Once they are at the hospital and Jenna wakes up Courtney continues to tell Jenna about what really was going on. Courtney and Scott had been hanging around each other so much because Scott was telling her how Jenna kept refusing to have sex with him. He the told her that he was going to get it one way or another and that he had bought a roofie to slip into her drink. That's exactly what had happened. Courtney was going to tell Jenna but Scott knew something about Courtney that she couldn't afford to get out. Once Jenna was better she dumped Scott for being a total jerk and moved on to live a happy life at Harvard.
I generally liked everything about this book. Between the love stories that were told in it and all the drama between friends it kept me really entertained. I wasn't expecting the whole roofie thing at all so that really threw a big loop in the story but it was a good loop. I also liked it because its about a group of kids in high school and the things that happened actually happen all the time. Not to me personally but their relatable. I also liked that in the back of the book, once you got done reading they had a whole section that gave you information on who to call or what to do if you or somebody you know is being taken advantage of.
Something that I didn't like was that Scott turned out to be a total butt hole! In the beginning of the story I was really pulling of him and Jenna to work out. They were both hard working students that seemed to really love each other and then he turned out to be a jerk. I am not a big fan of him at all. Besides Scott i have nothing else to complain about and it was a wonderful book.

[Courtney Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of A Few Lessons to Learn

"Sticky Fingers" by Niki Burnham has been one of my top reads for 2010. Every chapter ends as a cliff hanger, and every page you read just makes you want to read even more!

As told in the point of view of 18 year old Jenna Kassarian, perfect grades, the ideal boyfriend, and her best friend, Courtney are the top things on her mind. To some girls, Jenna may be the definition of perfect, but not to herself. Jenna has a few problems with herself, but one major one is that she wants to be more laid back like Courtney, and have some fun. "All the times I came straight home after volleyball practice or tennis without stopping to have pizza or hang out with my friends, just so I'd have an extra hour to study or to check over a project one last time" basically describes Jenna's life out of school. Foolishly, she finally accepts to go to a party with Scott (her boyfriend), Courtney, and Mat (Courtney's boyfriend), to just have fun for a night.

That night, Jenna does something that she will never forget, and will haunt her for the rest of her life. Learning it the hard way, Jenna soon finds out that straight A's can't protect you in the real world.

My opinion of this book was that it was well- written, and very true. At the end of each chapter, something happened that made you keep reading the book, which made me like the book even more. This book is very true, because the lesson to learn was that just one bad choice can lead to many problems in your life. Many parents tell their children this, because they want them to understand that their life is precious, which makes this lesson meaningful to them. I was very surprised that it ended the way it did after all the work Jenna did just to make herself popular. It was almost like all of her extra hours going shopping for the newest trends just went down the drain. In just the blink of an eye, Jenna wasn't perfect anymore.

I would definitely recommend this book to any teens (girls or boys) that are searching for a book about growing up, and making important choices in life. For sure this book taught me that you should never feel pressured into doing anything, and if you do, then you probably aren't ready for what you fear. This book reminds me of A Girl's Life Online by Katherine Tarbox, because in both books, a girl makes one bad decision that shapes their future life in a negative way. I also like this book because it had to deal with relationships, not just friends but family. For example, in the beginning of the book, it is said that Courtney's parents are going through a divorce which makes it hard for her. A recommendation to a similar book by Niki Burnham is "Goddess Games," as it pertains to challenges in life.

I've learned some valuable lessons while reading this book, as I'm sure future readers will too!