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Wildfire #5
Superflirt
Flirting is so much fun, and Susan is so good at it. She's pretty, popular, and she has a good-looking boyfriend, John, who thinks she's the greatest. The girls in her class used to like her too, until they got sick of her always cutting in on their territory and flirting with their boyfriends.
Susan says she doesn't mean anything by it, but that's just the trouble! She also says she can't help herself—until John breaks off with her and she breaks her best friend Debbie's heart.
Susan says she doesn't mean anything by it, but that's just the trouble! She also says she can't help herself—until John breaks off with her and she breaks her best friend Debbie's heart.
- GenresYoung AdultRomance
169 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 11, 1980
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 19, 2024
It was fun to go back and read another Wildfire romance from my youth in the ‘80s! All I’m missing now are some old issues of Tiger Beat!
May 4, 2018
Surprisingly good story of a teen girl who actually learns from her mistakes and grows through the course of the book. Above average entry in this series.
January 1, 2024
1.5 stars.
There were a few redeeming moments, but overall this is a prime example of what was wrong with our culture (that we're, thankfully, slowly starting to change).
Susan doesn't want to work with Debbie to plan the dance because Debbie is fat. Since Debbie is fat, she's never had a boyfriend and of course will never be asked to the dance. Susan decides to help Debbie lose weight, and then she will get a boyfriend. Susan tells Debbie not to eat so much. Debbie eats less. Debbie loses 8.5 pounds and suddenly has visible cheekbones. Debbie gets new clothes and makeup, and a perm. She loses altogether fifteen pounds. She is a new person. She is finally asked out.
That makes me want to scream and cry and vomit. This is what young girls were reading as entertainment. Why didn't anybody in publishing say, "Hey, maybe losing fifteen pounds shouldn't be the focus for this sixteen-year-old girl? Maybe Debbie should be an awesome person with lots of friends who doesn't focus on her weight." And I read SO MANY books like this as a kid. About the dumpy, frumpy girl who loses weight and becomes pretty and gets attention from boys. Who is then seen and admired and therefore has value. ARGH!
Okay, rant over. It's just so *sad,* what we're all having to fight to get away from.
Also, are none of the girls upset at their boys for being so susceptible to Susan's amazing flirting talents? Do the boys have no agency?
There were a few redeeming moments, but overall this is a prime example of what was wrong with our culture (that we're, thankfully, slowly starting to change).
Susan doesn't want to work with Debbie to plan the dance because Debbie is fat. Since Debbie is fat, she's never had a boyfriend and of course will never be asked to the dance. Susan decides to help Debbie lose weight, and then she will get a boyfriend. Susan tells Debbie not to eat so much. Debbie eats less. Debbie loses 8.5 pounds and suddenly has visible cheekbones. Debbie gets new clothes and makeup, and a perm. She loses altogether fifteen pounds. She is a new person. She is finally asked out.
That makes me want to scream and cry and vomit. This is what young girls were reading as entertainment. Why didn't anybody in publishing say, "Hey, maybe losing fifteen pounds shouldn't be the focus for this sixteen-year-old girl? Maybe Debbie should be an awesome person with lots of friends who doesn't focus on her weight." And I read SO MANY books like this as a kid. About the dumpy, frumpy girl who loses weight and becomes pretty and gets attention from boys. Who is then seen and admired and therefore has value. ARGH!
Okay, rant over. It's just so *sad,* what we're all having to fight to get away from.
Also, are none of the girls upset at their boys for being so susceptible to Susan's amazing flirting talents? Do the boys have no agency?
June 16, 2020
I owned this book when I was 12 years olds. I bought Wildfire books through the Scholastic book order form we would get in English class. I didn't care for this book much back then. At 12 I didn't really have any sympathy for a girl who had a boyfriend and was easily able to get a lot of other guys to fall for her too.
What was going on was that she was using her flirting to act out because she was upset her dad had been having a hard time at work for the last year and no one in her house was getting along very well. Every time she felt rejected by her dad she would flirt with some guy she wasn't even interested in to get attention. This behavior cost her friendships and she lost her boyfriend. Luckily, towards the end of the book she was able to figure out what she was doing and make some amends.
What was going on was that she was using her flirting to act out because she was upset her dad had been having a hard time at work for the last year and no one in her house was getting along very well. Every time she felt rejected by her dad she would flirt with some guy she wasn't even interested in to get attention. This behavior cost her friendships and she lost her boyfriend. Luckily, towards the end of the book she was able to figure out what she was doing and make some amends.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 29, 2011
It was a good coming of age story. It has a good moral, and teaches a nice lesson.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews