Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson

No spoilers. This books is probably better for older teens.


Title: The Bermudez Triangle
Author: Maureen Johnson
Year of Publication: 2004
Genre: YA
Pages: 370
First Line: "The host stood at his podium under the pink-and-yellow neon arch and surveyed the three girls who had just come through the door."

Summary: The Bermudez Triangle is:

Nina Bermudez, who TiVos every episode of Trading Spaces because watching people rip down bad decorations soothes her.

Avery Dekker, who worships Jack Black but has learned to play Billy Joel's "Piano Man" by heart just so that she can hate it in detail.

Melanie Forrest (a.k.a. Mel), who inspires guys to develop instantaneous, epic crushes--the kind that cause them to want to iron their clothes and listen to the lyrics of slow songs.

Lifelong best friends Nina, Avery, and Mel face their first separation the summer before their senior year, when Nina attends a ten-week program at Stanford. But how much can happen in ten weeks?

Plenty, it seems. Nina finds herself blindsided by Steve, the adorable ecowarrior down the hall. Too bad he lives in Oregon and she's from upstate New York. When the Stanford program ends, she has to wait 8,736 hours before she can see him again.

At least she'll soon be reunited with Mel and Avery. But Nina isn't the only one whose life was turned upside down in ten weeks. While Nina was gone, Mel had her real first kiss. With Avery.

Source: Back of book



Review: Before you get concerned about it being like Sisterhood, it's not. It's more mature and the plot is much different. All-in-all, not what I expected, and probably some of the more quality writing I've seen from Maureen Johnson. It did feel a bit long at parts, and sometimes stuff was totally unnecessary to include and just slowed down the plot. You don't have to be a lesbian to enjoy the book -- it's fun in general. Hank Green (John Green's brother) recommended the book as a "should be read in high schools" (because there had been a banning issue) and I'm not sure I would go THAT far because I don't think it was of THAT much quality. But it was good and if you've got the time, it's worth a look.

Worst part: There were several parts of the book that felt like it was just dragging and I was ready to move on.

Best part: Avery's character was really well done, I felt.

Grade: B+

Other Books by This Author: Suite Scarlett, Devilish, Girl at Sea, The Key to the Golden Firebird and others.





8 / 50 books. 16% done!

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