10 Steps to Girlfriend Status

by Cynthia T. Toney

Overview

"Without knowing or caring where I'd wind up, I sneaked out of the house and took off running." Wendy Robichaud is on schedule to have everything she wants in high school: two loyal best friends, a complete and happy family, and a hunky boyfriend she's had a crush on since eighth grade-until she and Mrs. Villaturo look at old photo albums together. That's when Mrs. V sees her dead husband and hints at a scandal down in Cajun country. Faster than you can say "crawdad," Wendy digs into the scandal. She risks losing boyfriend David by befriending Mrs. V's cute grandson, alienates stepsister Alice by having a boyfriend in the first place, and upsets her friend Gayle without knowing why. Will Wendy be able to prevent Mrs. V from being taken thousands of miles away from her? And will she lose all the friends she's fought so hard to get?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781938092640
Publisher:	Write Integrity Press
Publication date:	09/01/2015
Series:	Bird Face , #2
Pages:	202
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.43(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

Editorial Reviews

07/31/2017
This second book in Toney’s Bird Face series, after 8 Notes to a Nobody, is a thinly woven tale that combines a family ancestral mystery, a degenerative disease, and romance. Louisiana native Wendy Robichaud is about to become part of a blended family with her mother, her close friend Alice, and Alice’s father and brother. Now a high school freshman, Wendy is also beginning to attract boys, including popular David Griffin. Meanwhile, her next door neighbor and surrogate grandmother, Mrs. Villaturo, is showing signs of dementia, which alarms Wendy. While looking through a photo album, Wendy questions Mrs. V. about a picture, which sparks Wendy’s curiosity about her own family history, and a quest for answers begins. Unfortunately, Wendy comes off as an odd combination of empathetic, presumptuous, and unintentionally harsh (“His voice sounded almost normal. Or maybe I was getting used to it,” she says of Mrs. V.’s grandson Sam, who is deaf). The interconnected relationships between characters get to be overly convenient, sometimes overlapping to the point of confusion. Although Toney’s writing is solid, the book winds up short on substance. Ages 12–up. (BookLife)

Publishers Weekly

2016-10-25
A Louisiana teen embarks on a quest to secure a boyfriend while having to adjust to a new family and the serious illness of a beloved friend. In this YA novel, 14-year-old Wendy Robichaud starts her freshman year in high school with a clear goal—to become the girlfriend of David Griffin, a boy she admires. She knows the "steps" she'll have to follow before she reaches girlfriend status with him, including holding hands, public displays of affection, and hanging out with his crowd. But Wendy also learns there's more to having a boyfriend than being on his speed dial. She encounters obstacles such as strict parental rules about dating and the hurt feelings of her friends when she abandons them to be with David. Also complicating her life are her divorced mother's remarriage and the move to a new house with her stepdad and stepsiblings, her "instant big family." When Wendy seeks consolation from Mrs. Villaturo, her former next-door neighbor and surrogate grandmother, she's dismayed to find her friend acting strangely. Her discovery leads Mrs. V's son and teenage grandson to travel from their Alaska home to Louisiana to assess the situation and make tough decisions regarding Mrs. V's future care. Wendy is distraught at the prospect of losing her old friend. Only the compassion of Sam, Mrs. V's deaf grandson, makes the outcome easier for her to bear. Using Wendy as her narrator, Toney (8 Notes to a Nobody, 2015, etc.) delineates some of the highs and lows of an innocent first love in this fast-paced novel. The story goes beyond its catchy title to tackle serious issues relevant to teens, such as forming healthy relationships, living in a blended family, and coping with an elderly loved one's Alzheimer's disease. A subplot involving a long-ago, secret, mixed-race marriage between Wendy's relatives and those of her African-American best friend, Gayle Freeman, is somewhat contrived but contains a timely message about racial tolerance. A sensitive YA tale about love, change, and loss, with an empowering message for girls.

Kirkus Reviews