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GETTIN' HOOKED - Nyomi Scott
November 2007 |
SYNOPSIS: Imani Lane has her heart set on going to the senior dance with Maurice, the hottest guy in town. So she decides to brilliantly engineer her own profile to match Maurices on a teen online dating site. The problem is the Web site is becoming too popular, and guys who are looking for hook-ups now include some unsavory types
YOUNG ADULT FICTION |3+| Keren Childers
REVIEW: Ms. Scott introduces a storyline about teenagers that are
romantics at heart. With two months before the prom and no date options,
what do you do? Why not start a gettin hooked website?
Imani is a beautiful biracial girl who’s been sweating the guy that
lives across the street from her cousin. Too shy to let him know about
her feelings, she goes out of her way to create a website just so she
can get his profile. Imani is smart and has a lot going for her, but she
has issues stemming from her mother’s abandonment early in her life.
When she concocts this idea about using a website to find dates for the
prom, she has no ideal that this site will stir up such a buzz in town
and across the states. Imani faces decisions that will affect both her,
and her friend’s, lives; some good and some bad.
GETTING HOOKED is a reactive and crazy story at best, but it was
definitely something that I can see teens doing. Imani hung out with her
cousin Kayla. They were definitely two partners in crime that thrive on
excitement. They were close and stuck together through thick and thin.
To them, hooking up friends and schoolmates for prom on the internet is
so cool. Imani was the think tank here, but didn’t plan ahead for
intruders. Kayla was naďve when it came to meeting guys on the internet.
She was just unaware of what could happen if you hooked up with someone
you don’t know. Imani was a little more reserved than Kayla. She had
some trust issues stemming from her mother and it kept her emotional at
times. Although, she was levelheaded for her age, she should have opened
up more to her father and grandmother.
The secondary character that stood out was Maurice. Maurice was a nice
guy and mature for his age. He had a lot going for himself; car, a
little cash, and good looks. The ladies liked him, and of course he
reciprocated; but you can tell that ge was raised to respect ladies. I
really found myself hoping Maurice and Imani would hook up. One thing
that that annoyed me was the overusaged of the teen language. It was a
little too far-fetched for me. I found the constant use of words like
“fe sheezle, my nizzle” and “hella”, gave me the overwhelming urge to
either grab an ebonics dictionary, or put in a call to Snoop Dogg for a
translation.
I can see this being a fun book for all teenagers looking to read some
dealing with today’s teen dating scene.
reviewer@romanceincolor.com | 22nd December 2007