Smart Boys and Fast Girls by Stephe Davis

I picked this one up because it was featured on the Teen Book Club at DearReader.com (a great service anyone can sign up for). I had chosen not to actually buy this book for our library since I hadn’t seen any reviews, but my local library has it, so I checked it out there.

In short, Natalie loves track, and she’s fast. She’s just gotten on the varsity team, and is beginning to make friends with the older girls and the cute boy’s track captain. When she learns she’s failing geometry, and her teacher threatens to have her kicked off the team if she doesn’t work with a tutor, she’s crushed. She doesn’t want anyone to know she’s stupid enough to need a tutor, and if her parents knew, they’d make her quit track. Matt, the tutor, is a super-smart geek (though not unattractive) who thinks sports are dumb and all jocks are jerks. They strike up a deal: he’ll pretend to be her boyfriend (two benefits: to explain the time they spend together to study and to make the track captain jealous) and she will make sure her father (a noted physics professor) gets Matt a summer research job. I’m sure you’ll figure out what happens. Zach (track captain) isn’t right for her, and Matt works out just fine. Plus she passes geometry and kicks ass on the track team. Happy ending all around.

The book doesn’t hide the fact that it’s light romantic fare, but that’s okay. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t horrible. I was entertained, and the plot had enough twists and surprises that kept me interested. I was put off, for the most part, by Natalie’s character. She just seemed so silly. For example, when Zach comments that most girls take much longer than her to change after practice, she resolves to keep him waiting next time. When she comments that she likes his Jeep, he says that most girls worry that it will mess up their hair, and she resolves to pay more attention to her hair. I don’t know any girls like that, but I’m sure they exist.

Issues include: dating, self-image, academic tutoring, sports.