Review: My Big Nose & Other Natural Disasters by Sydney Salter

Summary: It's the end of junior year, and summer is about to begin. The Summer of Passion, to be exact, when Jory Michaels plans to explore all the possibilities of the future - and, with any luck, score a boyfriend in the process. But Jory has a problem. A big problem. A curvy, honking, bumpy, problem in the form of her Super Schnozz, the one thing standing between Jory and happiness. And now, with the Summer of Passion stretched before her like an open road, she's determined for Super Schnozz to disappear.
Jory takes a job delivering wedding cakes to save up for a nose job at the end of the summer; she even keeps a book filled with magazine cutouts of perfect noses to show the doctor. But nothing is ever easy for accident-prone Jory - and before she knows it, her Summer of Passion falls apart faster than the delivery van she crashes.

In her hilarious and heartbreaking debut novel, Sydney Salter delivers a story about broadening your horizons, accepting yourself, and finding love right under your nose. (from goodreads.com)

Review: I'm a big Sydney Salter fan (go read Swoon at Your own Risk)- so I knew ahead of time that I would like this book as well, and I did. One thing I really like about Salter's book are that they look at the serious issues that teens face with both compassion and humor. Here we see Jory deal with alot, insecurity about her big nose (aka the super-schnoz), her mothers insecuritues about her appearance, boy issues, and friends who break your heart. It's pretty sad how much focus Jory puts on her nose, but totally realistic at the same time. In her mind if she can just fix her nose everything will be better. What teen hasn't felt that way at one point or another- if not your nose, then your teeth or complextion or any number of things. At the heart of the story, beyond the boy issues and mom issues and friend issues, is Jory learning to accept herself.

That doesn't mean the rest isn't good through! Jory's in love with classmate Tyler Briggs, but there's also Wooster Tom who keeps turning up when Jory least expects it, then there's Gideon whose mother owns a bead store where Jory delivers cakes and who is increadible intriguing despite being totally NOT Jory's type. All three boys definitly play a part in Jory's figuring out who she is, and who she wants to be, not to mention who she wants to be with.

Also in the mix are friends Hannah and Megan. I have to admit- not a Megan fan. I didn't feel like she was a good friend to Jory and while the argument can be made that they've been friends forever, I wonder if there isn't a point in which you realize that the fact that you've been friends forever doesn't means you keep being friends. That's how I felt about Megan, and it was really the only let down for me. I wish we could have seen Jory emerge with a better sense of who had her best interest at heart. That being said- if I think back on the people I was friends with in high school, there are few I can say were really good friends. So maybe the fact that Jory heads into senior year with a few really good friends, and few friends that she's known forever actually puts her in a really good place.

Overall- this was a really fun book. I laughed out loud in a few spots and visably cringed in a few others (while remembering my own time in high school). I cna't wait to read more of Salter's books.

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