Fifteen

Fifteen
By Beverly Cleary
Harper Trophy, 2007 (Reprint Edition), 238 pg., Teen Romance

There is nothing quiet like being fifteen. Jane just wants to meet a boy, but instead she is stuck babysitting the most notorious toddler in the neighborhood. When she runs into the new boy, Stan Crandell, it seems that all her dreams will come true. Perhaps he will like her and give her is identification bracelet! But Jane feels like she keeps messing things up! She looks like "Miss Muffet" next Marcy when they all go on a group date to the city. Then when the first big dance of the year comes she feels like she makes a fool of herself. How can a simple girl make a wonderful boy like Stan ever like her?

Written in 1956 this Beverly Clearly classic is still wonderful today. Set in the 1950's (which was contemporary when it was written) Clearly managed to capture the timeless feelings of being fifteen and in love for the first time. I wish I could ask her "How - How did you do it?" However she managed it, she encapsulated the thrills and  heartaches of being fifteen in the pages of a book. This book is about experiencing your first love, but it is also about learning that being just who you are, and that being proud of that fact, is what makes you attractive. This romance, while simple and maybe silly to some, is fantastic(and clean). For me, it was a reminder of what is was like when I was fifteen. I think that teen girls will love this and I think that adult woman will enjoy it too. Maybe it will remind you of how it felt the first time you seriously liked a boy.