My Desperate Love Diary (review)

"If I were blonde, the flat chest and spots wouldn't matter so much." So begins Brit chick Kelly Ann's comical chronicle of her devoted if misguided love for fellow high-school student, G. (as he's pseudonymously dubbed in Kelly Ann's diary). G. isn't the only problem in Kelly Ann's messy and disorganized life: her mother falls for a young Greek guy during a vacation away from Kelly Ann's father; her sister, Angela, is pregnant; her best guy friend has been acting strangely around her lately; and her best girlfriends think G. is a "tosser." A year's worth of diary entries detail the ups and downs of Kelly Ann's attempts to snag G. as all the while she misses every signal sent by Chris, the sweet boy who lives nearly next door. Rettig freshens a standard story through clever humor and subplots involving quirky feminist teachers, steadfast friends, and a dysfunctional family. Although this is a busy book plotwise, she is careful not to overload readers, filtering and contextualizing everything through Kelly Ann's angsty but amusing adolescent voice. Girls who can't get enough of the cheeky British humor in Sue Limb's Girl, 15, Charming but Insane (BCCB 10/04) will find more giggles and a snort or two here.