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The Poker Diaries
From the author of Rock My World and High School Bites -a tale of a poker-playing teen whose two lives are about to collide.
For a city girl, Lulu has the best of both worlds-uptown and downtown. Her mother teaches her about art and high society...then every other weekend she's with her dad, playing poker in the back room of her grandfather's bar. Mark, her downtown crush, is almost as good at the game as she is, but her uptown friends lose their shirts. So when her buddy Dack gets mixed up with the wrong crowd and loses a bit more than he should, it's up to Lulu to win it back for him. But things have become even more complicated- especially now that her mom is dating Mr. Toughon- Crime himself, the Mayor of New York City.
For a city girl, Lulu has the best of both worlds-uptown and downtown. Her mother teaches her about art and high society...then every other weekend she's with her dad, playing poker in the back room of her grandfather's bar. Mark, her downtown crush, is almost as good at the game as she is, but her uptown friends lose their shirts. So when her buddy Dack gets mixed up with the wrong crowd and loses a bit more than he should, it's up to Lulu to win it back for him. But things have become even more complicated- especially now that her mom is dating Mr. Toughon- Crime himself, the Mayor of New York City.
- GenresYoung Adult
211 pages, Paperback
First published January 2, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 11, 2021
I liked this book for the main character's confidence, but it runs into the same problem a lot of books do that revolve around polotics: the climax always revolves around an election in which there are only two outcomes. You know it, the author knows it, and it feels like nothing else matter except the election. The rest of the book becomes irrelevant or just a means to an end. I still liked this book though.
November 30, 2020
This book is excellent. I love poker and this was an excellent story about a young poker player. Great book!
February 19, 2018
Since the divorce of her parents years ago, Lulu has lived her uptown life with her mother and her downtown life with her father. Just like she’s interested in looking at art exhibits in the Upper East Side, she likes playing poker with her dad at her grandfather’s bar. When one of her best friends gets caught in a sticky situation where Lulu needs to play a game of poker to help him out, she gets videotaped for her performance and blackmailed. Now that the Mayor of the City is her soon-to-be-Stepfather, Lulu’s image matters, and she can’t let that videotaped be exposed.
I know I’m always saying that authors need to take it in their hands to be original so they can stand in the thousand crowds of desperate authors, but this particular story? I don’t like it. Oh sure, the idea of a protagonist that plays poker—and is really good at it—is refreshing, even a bit interesting, but I find it a little too over the top and unbelievable. You can have original characters with different interests that stray from the norm, but you don’t want to send out the wrong messages, especially since this is a Young Adult book. Playing poker, I can handle, even if Lulu is only 15 (and I gasped at that. Illegal gambling? Yikes) but blackmail? This is not 21. It’s stretched to unbelievable territory that I can’t help but dislike. Poker at 15, and she's a Pro? Not to mention, totally illegal, especially since Lulu was really gambling with money and not the basic card games that middle school kids liked to play at lunch time.
Of course, it doesn’t help that another one of the characters is a freaking Mayor. The only other book I’ve read where someone of political standing played an important role in a story was All American Girl by Meg Cabot. That wasn’t quite believable either, but at least Cabot created characters that had their own spunk and personality, combined with her witty and comical writing that made everything better.
This? How I see it: amateur writing that tries too hard to imitate many of the bestselling authors. I’ll give props for trying to be creative, but the writing just made me laughed.
Characters: too pretentious. Dialogue: Oh. My. God. Trying too hard. Over the top. Fake. Fake! The author wants to make them sound cool and “hip” but they come out sounding like the dumb, blonde laughingstocks in movies. It’s so unnatural that I just couldn’t stop grimacing. And it wasn’t only the dialogue. For a writer that has written a number of books, you’d think her writing would have some depth and sophistication to it, but you’d be wrong. Her messages are the clichéd “living in two worlds”, “they fit together like pieces of a puzzle”, and the classic “love is like a poker game, you never know what cards you’re going to be dealt, so you have to take a chance”. I did not need to read about 200 pages to learn something I already learned, even if it was for pure entertainment. (And trust me, it wasn’t entertainment.) I could even have forgiven the ridiculous clichés—a lot of authors use them, even though it should be a law not to—if Liza Conrad’s writing was better. Yeah, people have their own tastes when it comes to writing, but most people would agree with me for saying that writers need intellectual lines and good sentences. Not even amazing, just good. Or a little above average. But this author provided statements that did not flow, or if they did, sound extremely rushed and 6th grade. Where are all the details? The entire book sounds more like a plot summary, or a timeline that what a novel should be.
I know I’m always saying that authors need to take it in their hands to be original so they can stand in the thousand crowds of desperate authors, but this particular story? I don’t like it. Oh sure, the idea of a protagonist that plays poker—and is really good at it—is refreshing, even a bit interesting, but I find it a little too over the top and unbelievable. You can have original characters with different interests that stray from the norm, but you don’t want to send out the wrong messages, especially since this is a Young Adult book. Playing poker, I can handle, even if Lulu is only 15 (and I gasped at that. Illegal gambling? Yikes) but blackmail? This is not 21. It’s stretched to unbelievable territory that I can’t help but dislike. Poker at 15, and she's a Pro? Not to mention, totally illegal, especially since Lulu was really gambling with money and not the basic card games that middle school kids liked to play at lunch time.
Of course, it doesn’t help that another one of the characters is a freaking Mayor. The only other book I’ve read where someone of political standing played an important role in a story was All American Girl by Meg Cabot. That wasn’t quite believable either, but at least Cabot created characters that had their own spunk and personality, combined with her witty and comical writing that made everything better.
This? How I see it: amateur writing that tries too hard to imitate many of the bestselling authors. I’ll give props for trying to be creative, but the writing just made me laughed.
Characters: too pretentious. Dialogue: Oh. My. God. Trying too hard. Over the top. Fake. Fake! The author wants to make them sound cool and “hip” but they come out sounding like the dumb, blonde laughingstocks in movies. It’s so unnatural that I just couldn’t stop grimacing. And it wasn’t only the dialogue. For a writer that has written a number of books, you’d think her writing would have some depth and sophistication to it, but you’d be wrong. Her messages are the clichéd “living in two worlds”, “they fit together like pieces of a puzzle”, and the classic “love is like a poker game, you never know what cards you’re going to be dealt, so you have to take a chance”. I did not need to read about 200 pages to learn something I already learned, even if it was for pure entertainment. (And trust me, it wasn’t entertainment.) I could even have forgiven the ridiculous clichés—a lot of authors use them, even though it should be a law not to—if Liza Conrad’s writing was better. Yeah, people have their own tastes when it comes to writing, but most people would agree with me for saying that writers need intellectual lines and good sentences. Not even amazing, just good. Or a little above average. But this author provided statements that did not flow, or if they did, sound extremely rushed and 6th grade. Where are all the details? The entire book sounds more like a plot summary, or a timeline that what a novel should be.
December 12, 2010
I LOVED this book! It was a great story and once you pick up the book you wouldn't want to stop reading it until you reach the end. This relatively simple story contains plenty of meaningful morals and themes present in the lives of all adults and teenagers. Since reading this book wouldn't take up much time, I strongly recommend for everyone regardless of the age to read it. Overall, it is about a girl, named Lulu who is growing up with her mother (part of the Manhattan's social elite) and still keeps in touch with her father (downtown simple guy who loves poker). Lulu is really an ideal example of a teenager who gets entangled into friendship dilemmas and how to remain loyal to her dad, with her mother getting re-married. What I have learned from this novel is truly the importance of family and those friends that you can rely on at your worse are truly those you can always trust and be yourself with regardless. I have also learned that being different is by far the most unique thing, rather than trying to blend in with the group you choose to be with at certain times. It is your life and who you are as a person makes you a strong leader, not a follower. Some of the major themes in this novel included friendship, love, trust, betrayal, identity, and game. By far identity was one of the major themes, as throughout the novel, Lulu was trying to find the place where she belongs at, in her mom's luxurious world, or her dad's simple downtown vintage world. Sometimes, life can get too complex and one realizes that sometimes what you think is troublesome is a gift after all, as one gets to experience the best of both worlds, and yet maintaining one identity in two completely different places. Read this novel, and simply experience Lulu's life, an average teenager who managed to find who she is and the places she will always be a part of.....
November 20, 2013
First thing I think of this book: Totally awesome. Lulu, the kicking and up Poker Player Girl, isn't exactly the best candidate for being the stepdaughter of the Mayor of NYC. And no, I'm not talking about this guy. He's married already, you see.
Although the Poker Diaries is a rather short book (hence the short review and because of the writing competition I'm in, starts with a 'n' and ends with an 'o'), it's actually quite awesome, because of 1) the main character, and 2) Lulu's dads, both of them, which is future dad and current dad. Guess who is which? I totally recommend this book to people who need to read a quick read and not be so dedicated/faithful to it, because The Poker Diaries is a cheesy read.
Cheesy doesn't even tell it all.
The plot is crazy. I'll tell you the fast version of it. First, we meet Lulu's real dad, who happens to be on the wrong side of the law (very important part of the book). Then we meet the Mayor of NYC, who really is killing the numbers on crime. Two dads, on two sides of the law. Can it get any worse?
Oh, yes. Yes it can.
Someone named Dack gets into the wrong crowd. Really bad crowd. Lulu ends up playing in a poker game to save Dack's butt. Then she gets blackmailed by someone, because they have a footage of her talking about illegal poker games and stuff like that.
Yeah. It can really go far, especially when the police gets involve.
But that's a little ahead of the story, which I will not talk about. Because that's spoilers.
Rating: Three out of Five for being ridiculously Cheesy Cheesy.
-ofpaperandwords.blogspot.com
Although the Poker Diaries is a rather short book (hence the short review and because of the writing competition I'm in, starts with a 'n' and ends with an 'o'), it's actually quite awesome, because of 1) the main character, and 2) Lulu's dads, both of them, which is future dad and current dad. Guess who is which? I totally recommend this book to people who need to read a quick read and not be so dedicated/faithful to it, because The Poker Diaries is a cheesy read.
Cheesy doesn't even tell it all.
The plot is crazy. I'll tell you the fast version of it. First, we meet Lulu's real dad, who happens to be on the wrong side of the law (very important part of the book). Then we meet the Mayor of NYC, who really is killing the numbers on crime. Two dads, on two sides of the law. Can it get any worse?
Oh, yes. Yes it can.
Someone named Dack gets into the wrong crowd. Really bad crowd. Lulu ends up playing in a poker game to save Dack's butt. Then she gets blackmailed by someone, because they have a footage of her talking about illegal poker games and stuff like that.
Yeah. It can really go far, especially when the police gets involve.
But that's a little ahead of the story, which I will not talk about. Because that's spoilers.
Rating: Three out of Five for being ridiculously Cheesy Cheesy.
-ofpaperandwords.blogspot.com
February 7, 2009
Liza Conrad, The Poker Diaries (NAL, 2007)
Nifty little YA novel that will probably appeal more to those whose interest in poker is already established, but whose characters and plot are interesting enough to catch non-fans of the sport as well.
Lulu is a New York girl from both sides of the tracks—her mother is of the Ladies Who Lunch crowd (and is, no less, dating the Mayor), while her father is pure Lower East Side. It's through him that she's gained her love of, and skill at, poker. Unfortunately, her upper-class school chums are not quite so good at the game, and when her best friend gets himself in over his head and loses a family heirloom, he asks Lulu to bail him out. All well and good, except for that whole “my mom's dating the mayor, and backroom poker games are illegal in New York” thing.
Fun book and a very quick read. Lulu's dilemma is enhanced by personal life problems that most kids will have some empathy for (like her dad not approving of her fledgling romance), but the main plotline is far enough out that those looking for escapism will have a ball of a time. I have to say, though, that the idea that there is an age where one outgrows the taste of maraschino cherries is a truly distressing concept. *** ½
Nifty little YA novel that will probably appeal more to those whose interest in poker is already established, but whose characters and plot are interesting enough to catch non-fans of the sport as well.
Lulu is a New York girl from both sides of the tracks—her mother is of the Ladies Who Lunch crowd (and is, no less, dating the Mayor), while her father is pure Lower East Side. It's through him that she's gained her love of, and skill at, poker. Unfortunately, her upper-class school chums are not quite so good at the game, and when her best friend gets himself in over his head and loses a family heirloom, he asks Lulu to bail him out. All well and good, except for that whole “my mom's dating the mayor, and backroom poker games are illegal in New York” thing.
Fun book and a very quick read. Lulu's dilemma is enhanced by personal life problems that most kids will have some empathy for (like her dad not approving of her fledgling romance), but the main plotline is far enough out that those looking for escapism will have a ball of a time. I have to say, though, that the idea that there is an age where one outgrows the taste of maraschino cherries is a truly distressing concept. *** ½
November 8, 2012
Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com
Lulu's Rule of Poker #2 states: Don't bet what you can't afford to lose.
Dack thinks he can play poker. Lulu knows he can't because every time they play strip poker with her friend Angie, they always stop the game with Dack in his boxers. When Lulu goes to her dad's for the weekend, she gets a panicked phone call from Dack. He played poker with some other rich boys from the neighborhood, and now he's lost a prized possession.
Lulu, a poker goddess, agrees to play the winner in a rematch. When she arrives, she notices something a little strange about the other players, but nothing too out of the ordinary. She cleans house, taking back Dack's watch. Both friends think this is the end of the story; however it's only the beginning.
Soon, Lulu's in hot water--with her dad, her mom, and maybe her new stepfather, who just happens to be the mayor. Can she fix things before they get way out of hand?
THE POKER DIARIES feature rules of poker, a poker glossary, and rules for certain games. This novel is for anyone who loves poker, helping friends out of tough places, and for those just looking for a fun read.
Lulu's Rule of Poker #2 states: Don't bet what you can't afford to lose.
Dack thinks he can play poker. Lulu knows he can't because every time they play strip poker with her friend Angie, they always stop the game with Dack in his boxers. When Lulu goes to her dad's for the weekend, she gets a panicked phone call from Dack. He played poker with some other rich boys from the neighborhood, and now he's lost a prized possession.
Lulu, a poker goddess, agrees to play the winner in a rematch. When she arrives, she notices something a little strange about the other players, but nothing too out of the ordinary. She cleans house, taking back Dack's watch. Both friends think this is the end of the story; however it's only the beginning.
Soon, Lulu's in hot water--with her dad, her mom, and maybe her new stepfather, who just happens to be the mayor. Can she fix things before they get way out of hand?
THE POKER DIARIES feature rules of poker, a poker glossary, and rules for certain games. This novel is for anyone who loves poker, helping friends out of tough places, and for those just looking for a fun read.
April 3, 2008
This book is about a girl who is a teenager but is really good at playing poker. Her mom was divorced but she met and fell in love with the mayor. Then later the girl have to help her friend to get back something by playing poker. The worst thing has started....I like this book because i am a fan of poker, too! I like to play Chinese POker if it counts as one(i don't bet and gamble). I think it is fun and it is like an entertainment to me. I definitely would like to recommend this game and book to everyone. E-n-j-o-y!
April 22, 2013
I finished reading The Poker Diaries by Liza Conrad. The genre is realistic fiction. This book is about a young girl named Lulu that plays Poker. Her mom and dad are divorced. She loves playing poker but she soon finds herself in a huge illegal poker game. Then just to add to all of her stress her mother is dating the mayor of New York and they soon get married.
This is a good book. I loved it because it always had me wanting to see what would happen next and was always so interesting. I just wanted to keep reading it.
This is a good book. I loved it because it always had me wanting to see what would happen next and was always so interesting. I just wanted to keep reading it.
September 26, 2010
This was an interesting book but I enjoyed it. I liked it because sometimes I play poker with my family, so it was interesting to make that connection with the story. Overall a great book.
June 17, 2012
I really enjoyed this read. It was nice to read a story about a teenage girl that wasn't all makeup, clothes, and boys. I hope there are more books about Lulu!
October 12, 2010
A wholesome book about a teen w/ divorced parents. I read it in one night.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews