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Students Across the Seven Seas
Pardon My French
Seventeen-year-old Nicole dreams of spending the rest of her life with her boyfriend Nate. So when she finds herself on her way to Paris to study abroad without him, she’s less than thrilled. Paris is filled with cars that move at the speed of light, edible snails, and a language that Nicole can’t speak or read. Worst of all, Nicole feels lost without Nate. She’s not sure she’s capable of finding joie de vivre on her own, but with the help of some new friends—and a certain handsome Frenchman— Nicole might find Paris as sweet as a café au lait after all.
224 pages, Paperback
First published November 3, 2005
19 people are currently reading
914 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Hapka
433 books203 followersCatherine (Cathy) Hapka has written more than one hundred books for children and adults, as a ghostwriter for series as well as original titles, including the Romantic Comedies Something Borrowed, The Twelve Date of Christmas, and Love on Cue. She lives in Pennsylvania.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
May 22, 2013
I read the summary and took note that Nicole did not want to go to France. I thought I would be ok with that. I wasn't, in fact, Nicole is one of the most annoying main characters I've come across. First of all, what an ungrateful brat. Her parents are PAYING for her to spend HALF A YEAR in PARIS. What an amazing opportunity, I would love to be offered the chance to do something like that. Nicole instead complains about not speaking the language, the scenary, the people, the metro (their subway system), basically she complains about everything. It was so annoying because she had no sense of adventure and she was complete closed-minded. What's worse is that her change was going nice and slow which was realistic and then suddenly it fast forwards and she's basically gone from one extreme to another. And oh my goodness her goal in life was to be a housewife. I can't even....
I feel bad for giving this book a low rating but I really did not enjoy reading Nicole's complaints. I loved all the mentions of Paris though and trying to practice basica French (not that I speak the language at all). Oh and don't even get me started on how rude she was to Luc, a flirtatious French guy. She just needed to chill and enjoy Paris. I swear if I ever met a real person like this, I'd smack them. haha. But the descriptions of Paris could have been a bit more detailed I thought. and I wanted Nicole to meet someone who was French and a girl so maybe she would be a bit less hostile. Ah well, this book still made me want to visit France :)
Quote: "But he wasn't just a random French guy anymore. That was the problem. He had started to become a real person to her-an individual with his own set of pluses and minuses, just like all the people back home" (pg. 105).
I feel bad for giving this book a low rating but I really did not enjoy reading Nicole's complaints. I loved all the mentions of Paris though and trying to practice basica French (not that I speak the language at all). Oh and don't even get me started on how rude she was to Luc, a flirtatious French guy. She just needed to chill and enjoy Paris. I swear if I ever met a real person like this, I'd smack them. haha. But the descriptions of Paris could have been a bit more detailed I thought. and I wanted Nicole to meet someone who was French and a girl so maybe she would be a bit less hostile. Ah well, this book still made me want to visit France :)
Quote: "But he wasn't just a random French guy anymore. That was the problem. He had started to become a real person to her-an individual with his own set of pluses and minuses, just like all the people back home" (pg. 105).
August 12, 2007
Currently, I want to reach into this book and slap this girl. I was curious about the series and decided to read this one about a girl in Paris for a semester, because I have first hand knowledge about the topic. Still reading.
Updated:
I guess I have just never been a fan of the self obsessed teenage girl genre. The main character whined and fretted so much about her boyfriend "Nate" that I could understand why her parents wanted to ship her off for a semester. As much as I admire the Naylor's Alice series, I have never really enjoyed reading those books. Listening to unceasing internal angst of teenager girls is too much for me. For a better book on what it is like to travel in Europe, 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson is leaps and bounds above this offering.
Updated:
I guess I have just never been a fan of the self obsessed teenage girl genre. The main character whined and fretted so much about her boyfriend "Nate" that I could understand why her parents wanted to ship her off for a semester. As much as I admire the Naylor's Alice series, I have never really enjoyed reading those books. Listening to unceasing internal angst of teenager girls is too much for me. For a better book on what it is like to travel in Europe, 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson is leaps and bounds above this offering.
Want to read
October 25, 2019Seventeen year old Nicole's dreams and plans center around her boyfriend, but a semester in Paris encourages her to think about herself and her future in a new way.
April 7, 2008
Yes, I realize these books are basically brain candy. But I like my brain candy to at least be entertaining. Pardon My French wasn't very entertaining. I was more interested in the main characters new friends than in the character herself! Never a good sign. This author wrote a few other S.A.S.S. books that I have really enjoyed, so this was a disappointment. The plot was predictable, although I give the author props for not falling *exactly* in line at the end. Hence, the two stars instead of one.
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March 15, 2019In the beginning, I wanted to slap Nicole. She was so lucky that her parents could pay for her to go to Paris. Instead, she complains about it. What a brat. In the end, she obviously repented in some way. She was nice to Luc and appreciated Paris much more.
Luc was so cute. Even though he flirted with every girl he saw, it was just like his way of saying, hi. In the book, he said that he kissed Nicole because he wanted to and he never explained himself.
In the beginning, I loved Nate. He seemed so cute. But then I realized he was popular. I was thinking someone would steal him before Nicole could get back home. Instead, he snagged another girl and cheated on Nicole! I was proud when Nicole dumped him.
Luc was so cute. Even though he flirted with every girl he saw, it was just like his way of saying, hi. In the book, he said that he kissed Nicole because he wanted to and he never explained himself.
In the beginning, I loved Nate. He seemed so cute. But then I realized he was popular. I was thinking someone would steal him before Nicole could get back home. Instead, he snagged another girl and cheated on Nicole! I was proud when Nicole dumped him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 10, 2019
A cute read. Nothing mind-blowing, but I liked watching Nicole become more sure of herself as the story progressed. I’m really excited to read the sequel, which is a Christmas themed romance!
August 28, 2007
Pretty fun to read, but not well written!
April 25, 2016
Pardon my French was a really good book. It was very emotional and detailed. The book is very romantic and fun. It was sort of confusing but still good. I enjoyed the book a lot. I found it really cool how she used emails to contact her friends back in America.
Nicole the main character goes to France and some new things come into play. She gets stuck between two guys and one big change happened. She thought her life was ruined but her friends were there to comfort her.
I recommend this book only to girls because it is very loving and sweet. If a guy wants to read it go right ahead but it is mostly a girly book. I would read it again and again. It was such a great book. Good thing there are more in the series.
Nicole the main character goes to France and some new things come into play. She gets stuck between two guys and one big change happened. She thought her life was ruined but her friends were there to comfort her.
I recommend this book only to girls because it is very loving and sweet. If a guy wants to read it go right ahead but it is mostly a girly book. I would read it again and again. It was such a great book. Good thing there are more in the series.
March 29, 2009
Kind of fluffy even for something you know is going to be YA fluff, and the protagonist is unlikeable for a very long time. I started to sympathize with her and get into the story by the end, but then it started ramming the lesson down the reader's throat instead of revealing it in the characters. Of course, if the actual teen readers out there are anything like the protagonist, the sledgehammer approach is probably necessary!
January 25, 2009
this book opens my brain for internatonal themes
December 28, 2020
The first book of the series "Students across the seven seas" that I've read, I read it a few years ago and i reread not a long time ago. I have to say, i like the concept of those books, where we follow the adventures of an american girl being sent to a foreign country to study for a semester, where they are confronted to other cultures, learn about the country's history, habits, try new foods, see the local wonders and make friends there, sometimes meet a local guy and fall in love.
As a French native, I was really curious about this book, because I wanted to see how my country was represented. I want to say it first, I didn't like the main character's behaviour in this book at all.
Nicole is an american girl, whose life revolves all around her boyfriend Nate and her group of friends at school. She has no ambitions in life, no passion that doesn't involve her boyfriend, which I find very shallow. Because of this, her parents send her to study in Paris at an international school for a semester during her Senior year.
For her, it's a disaster because it means to be far away from Nate, same for him and her friends who doesn't like the idea of her not being with them back home. Also, she has no desire to visit France, she doesn't know any French as she took Spanish in high school ( maybe it would have been better if they sent her to Spain instead?), and she believes that apart from the Eiffel tower, there's nothing else to see in Paris. That says a lot about American education and so-called superiority.
Of course, there's always the preconceived clichés about France and especially Paris that people have before coming to visit, that the people are rude, always smoking, drinking wine, wear beret all the time.
Once there, she stays with an American family, who are living there as expats, which is probably a good thing, so that she doesn't feel like the only foreigner in a city she doesn't know.
She befriends a neighbouring french couple, and also a very charming French guy, Luc, who takes care of her host family's kids, who is very straightforward friendly to her, maybe more.
The school where she goes to is full of internationals, she gets to meet people from different places, Ireland, England, Australia and Sweden among those and even get the opportunity to visit different landmarks in Paris.
But while she's there, she doesn't make any effort to integrate herself to the new environment she's staying, she doesn't care about the places she goes to see with her class. She doesn't want to try local food and stay on a daily Mcdonald's diet ( I don't know what's so difficult about trying a sandwich from a local café for example), and when her new friends want to make her try crepes, which she never had heard about, she doesn't even want to try one.
We definitely know that she doesn't want to be here, that she would rather be with her boyfriend, but the more she stays and see new things, the more her mind changes. And her relationship may not be what it seems, meanwhile her relationship with Luc grows.
I would say that this book is definitely not my favorite from the series, the main problem that I have with is Nicole's bratty attitude. I couldn't understand her, and her negative behaviour was too much. Does she even realizes how many students would love to be in her place while she's complaining about Paris all the time? Even though there were many beautiful descriptions about monuments in Paris, from the palace of Versailles to Notre Dame de Paris, and also the Louvre, most of the book revolved around Nicole's problems, from her not wanting to be in Paris, to her having issues with her boyfriend back home and then wanting to travel more. There was barely place to learn about French culture. Even though she stays with an international crowd, Nicole only meet three French people, one around her age. It felt more like love drama in a Parisian postcard background!
What I also criticise about this book, is that it is almost entirely centred around Paris, as if France is just Paris! There's just one passage in the south of France but it's too short to even enjoy it, it doesn't compare to other descriptions of Parisian monuments.
This book is not perfect, it has this lesson about learning to expand your mind, not setting all your future on one person, and to learn new things.
I know there's a sequel called French Kissmas, in which Nicole comes back to Paris the year after for Christmas, and meet Luc again. I will probably read and see if it got better...
As a French native, I was really curious about this book, because I wanted to see how my country was represented. I want to say it first, I didn't like the main character's behaviour in this book at all.
Nicole is an american girl, whose life revolves all around her boyfriend Nate and her group of friends at school. She has no ambitions in life, no passion that doesn't involve her boyfriend, which I find very shallow. Because of this, her parents send her to study in Paris at an international school for a semester during her Senior year.
For her, it's a disaster because it means to be far away from Nate, same for him and her friends who doesn't like the idea of her not being with them back home. Also, she has no desire to visit France, she doesn't know any French as she took Spanish in high school ( maybe it would have been better if they sent her to Spain instead?), and she believes that apart from the Eiffel tower, there's nothing else to see in Paris. That says a lot about American education and so-called superiority.
Of course, there's always the preconceived clichés about France and especially Paris that people have before coming to visit, that the people are rude, always smoking, drinking wine, wear beret all the time.
Once there, she stays with an American family, who are living there as expats, which is probably a good thing, so that she doesn't feel like the only foreigner in a city she doesn't know.
She befriends a neighbouring french couple, and also a very charming French guy, Luc, who takes care of her host family's kids, who is very straightforward friendly to her, maybe more.
The school where she goes to is full of internationals, she gets to meet people from different places, Ireland, England, Australia and Sweden among those and even get the opportunity to visit different landmarks in Paris.
But while she's there, she doesn't make any effort to integrate herself to the new environment she's staying, she doesn't care about the places she goes to see with her class. She doesn't want to try local food and stay on a daily Mcdonald's diet ( I don't know what's so difficult about trying a sandwich from a local café for example), and when her new friends want to make her try crepes, which she never had heard about, she doesn't even want to try one.
We definitely know that she doesn't want to be here, that she would rather be with her boyfriend, but the more she stays and see new things, the more her mind changes. And her relationship may not be what it seems, meanwhile her relationship with Luc grows.
I would say that this book is definitely not my favorite from the series, the main problem that I have with is Nicole's bratty attitude. I couldn't understand her, and her negative behaviour was too much. Does she even realizes how many students would love to be in her place while she's complaining about Paris all the time? Even though there were many beautiful descriptions about monuments in Paris, from the palace of Versailles to Notre Dame de Paris, and also the Louvre, most of the book revolved around Nicole's problems, from her not wanting to be in Paris, to her having issues with her boyfriend back home and then wanting to travel more. There was barely place to learn about French culture. Even though she stays with an international crowd, Nicole only meet three French people, one around her age. It felt more like love drama in a Parisian postcard background!
What I also criticise about this book, is that it is almost entirely centred around Paris, as if France is just Paris! There's just one passage in the south of France but it's too short to even enjoy it, it doesn't compare to other descriptions of Parisian monuments.
This book is not perfect, it has this lesson about learning to expand your mind, not setting all your future on one person, and to learn new things.
I know there's a sequel called French Kissmas, in which Nicole comes back to Paris the year after for Christmas, and meet Luc again. I will probably read and see if it got better...
October 15, 2019
There was so much to dislike about this book and not enough to like. The main character acting like an entitled brat about having such an amazing opportunity to go to France, the way she treated EVERYONE around her like shit, her dumb "relationship" with her boyfriend. All of it was shit. The only times this book didn't make me want to yeet myself off the Eiffel Tower were when French culture came into play.
May 25, 2020
First of all I need to say that this book was not as terrible as getting the boot. I hold the SASS books in a high regard as I absolutely loved them when I was younger, but never read the two French books of the series as I was never interested in France, personally.
I kind of found myself dozing off while reading the book, and while it was enjoyable, I would definitely recommend one of the other books in this series if you’re thinking of buying one. Probably wouldn’t re-read this one.
I kind of found myself dozing off while reading the book, and while it was enjoyable, I would definitely recommend one of the other books in this series if you’re thinking of buying one. Probably wouldn’t re-read this one.
August 3, 2020
The main character in this book was way too annoying for me. First of all, she’s given a great opportunity to go study abroad for a semester in Paris, but she doesn’t want to go because of her boyfriend. Her friends from home are little bitches and they make her even worse. Eventually she came around and realized how great it was to have this opportunity, but it was painful to get there. Thankfully this one wasn’t a long one.
October 5, 2025
I only have two books left in the Students Across the Seven Seas series to read and maybe its for the best. On my rereads I've come to the conclusion that these books totally suck. They've aged terribly and focus more on the insipid international boy toys rather than the foreign country they've been assigned. These girlypops don't focus on the culture and the reader barely learns anything by proxy. The heroine in Pardon My French already has a boyfriend and that's all she focuses on for the majority of the book. She's on a different continent and all she cares about is her loser football boyfriend who keeps ignoring her expensive international calls. There's also a flirtatious "manny" her host family employs who keeps trying to distract her. At least this book tried to incorporate more culture than its previous installments. Our heroine went to various museums and important French landmarks, but she still managed to ignore her homework. This was really disappointing and has proven these books should stay in the past. I only have one book left in my personal possession, Heart and Salsa. I remember reading this one in middle school and I think she builds houses in Mexico? Finally, the only foreign country I've been to in this forsaken series. This heroine made me wanna rip my hair out, but at least I can wear a beret to cover up the patchiness. C'est la vie!
May 8, 2019
This book follows a junior girl in high school who travels to France for a semester. She is reluctant to go and the book follows her adjustment. The character displays lots of negativity towards new experiences, so it's kinda hard to like her. The premise is kinda cool. the characters are not very deep. fast read.
January 29, 2023
This is one of my favorite books from middle school and a nice quick read to pull me out of my reading slump! This story is adorable. As someone that has always wanted to go to Paris this book makes me fall more and more in love with the idea of going. Nicole has an amazing character growth in this story and I could not be more proud of her.
July 6, 2021
This book was so cute! The main character reminded me of myself going to Europe for school back in the day. Some of the other characters were much to be desired (hint- boy) but the character of Luc was a nice touch. Would definitely recommend
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2017
i wish there was more! i want to know what will happen when she gets home!!!
September 24, 2017
it was just ok. Nicole was just very naive and came off a little whiney and stupid but overall a cute and easy read
May 27, 2019
3.5 stars.
October 2, 2019
1.5 stars
July 3, 2020
It was good and quick to read but I'm dropping 1 star due to all the texting drama where they substituted numbers for letters etc. Kinda hard to read that lingo.
October 9, 2021
Cute book
March 20, 2022
To be honest it was a really boring book, there was no excitement, nor emotion. Its an easy read and dumb read yet it took me soooo long since I got bored of it so easily.
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October 4, 2022Cute book and a light read, definitely reccomend her other books as well and all the others from the series which some of them I have read
March 21, 2017
I really enjoys this book because it had a girl that went to Paris and found a cute French boy. They fell in love and it was very romantic.
January 3, 2022
This short story was an interesting read. It’s about a girl who goes to Paris for a school semester, but she doesn’t want to go, she’d rather stay at home with her friends and boyfriend. At the beginning of the story she’s very closed minded and resistant to everything that comes to this trip, but as time goes on, she grows as a character, not too much, but enough not to be as completely annoying as she was in the beginning. This book was written in the early 2000 and it was entertaining to say the least to remember how we typed back then. It was an entertaining read but not something I’d recommend to friends.
January 4, 2015
How do you say doormat in French?
I ran across this series on Goodreads and am now determined to Read It All, but it's probably just as well that this was not the first one I picked up.
Nicole, poor thing, has been banished to Paris for a semester by her heartless, unloving parents. The horror! I mean, what teenager would possibly want to spend a semester in Paris? Nicole just can't bear the thought of rude Parisians and culture and gross foods like gelato and Nutella crêpes, whatever they are.
Nicole should really meet up with Becca. I think they'd get along.
The real problem, of course, is that Nicole's douchebro of a boyfriend is back in the States, and she just can't bear to be separated from him. After all, he's just so far above her socially that she can't ever let him go, and if she lets down her guard even a little bit, oh god, he might lose interest...and anyway, they're Meant to Be. They're seniors in high school, and their college plans aren't even a matter of them planning to apply to the same places -- their college plans are that Nate will decide where he wants to apply, and then Nicole will apply to all the same schools.
What. No.
Siiigh.
Anyway, Nicole's in Paris, so you'd think that once she stops whining about not knowing the language (although that's the one thing I have some sympathy about -- if she takes Spanish in school, why didn't her parents suggest, say, Spain?) and starts making friends, albeit very flimsily fleshed-out friends, we'd get a bit of a break from her constant Nate obsession. But no. Nicole does end up seeing things in Paris, and meeting people (very few of whom, oddly enough, are actually French)...but never before she moans about Nate, and how she'd rather be sitting at home thinking about Nate than touring Versailles(!), and Nate would say this if he were here...and Nate would hate that...and Nate...and Nate...
Now, because Nate is a douchebro, obviously the relationship does not survive the semester. (I will give the book props, by the way, for not giving Nicole a .) But because it takes Nicole so long to figure out that she can do better than him, there's no space left in which for her to develop a discernible personality, or interests, of her own. We leave her on her way home, thinking excitedly that maybe she'll take a gap year to travel, but when she did that growth from I don't wannnnnna have cultural experiences!, I have no idea.
More general look at the series here.
I ran across this series on Goodreads and am now determined to Read It All, but it's probably just as well that this was not the first one I picked up.
Nicole, poor thing, has been banished to Paris for a semester by her heartless, unloving parents. The horror! I mean, what teenager would possibly want to spend a semester in Paris? Nicole just can't bear the thought of rude Parisians and culture and gross foods like gelato and Nutella crêpes, whatever they are.
Nicole should really meet up with Becca. I think they'd get along.
The real problem, of course, is that Nicole's douchebro of a boyfriend is back in the States, and she just can't bear to be separated from him. After all, he's just so far above her socially that she can't ever let him go, and if she lets down her guard even a little bit, oh god, he might lose interest...and anyway, they're Meant to Be. They're seniors in high school, and their college plans aren't even a matter of them planning to apply to the same places -- their college plans are that Nate will decide where he wants to apply, and then Nicole will apply to all the same schools.
What. No.
Siiigh.
Anyway, Nicole's in Paris, so you'd think that once she stops whining about not knowing the language (although that's the one thing I have some sympathy about -- if she takes Spanish in school, why didn't her parents suggest, say, Spain?) and starts making friends, albeit very flimsily fleshed-out friends, we'd get a bit of a break from her constant Nate obsession. But no. Nicole does end up seeing things in Paris, and meeting people (very few of whom, oddly enough, are actually French)...but never before she moans about Nate, and how she'd rather be sitting at home thinking about Nate than touring Versailles(!), and Nate would say this if he were here...and Nate would hate that...and Nate...and Nate...
Now, because Nate is a douchebro, obviously the relationship does not survive the semester. (I will give the book props, by the way, for not giving Nicole a .) But because it takes Nicole so long to figure out that she can do better than him, there's no space left in which for her to develop a discernible personality, or interests, of her own. We leave her on her way home, thinking excitedly that maybe she'll take a gap year to travel, but when she did that growth from I don't wannnnnna have cultural experiences!, I have no idea.
More general look at the series here.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews