Review: Ditched by Robin Mellom

Title: Ditched: A Love Story

Author: Robin Mellom

Publisher: Hyperion Books

Publication Date: 3 Jan 2012

Challenge: DAB

Source: Bought

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis from Goodreads

High school senior Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. So she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her.

Ian, who always passed her the baseball bat, handle first. 

Ian, who knew exactly when she needed red licorice. 

Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom. 

And then ditched her. 

Now, as the sun rises over her small town, and with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven, Justina must piece together -- stain by stain on her thrift-store dress -- exactly how she ended up dateless. A three-legged Chihuahua was involved. Along with a demolition derby-ready Cadillac. And there was that incident at the tattoo parlor. Plus the flying leap from Brian Sontag's moving car...
But to get the whole story, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. And discover if losing out at prom can ultimately lead to true love.

REVIEW

A fantastic, quirky book that is very hard to review without giving away any spoilers.

Written in first person narrative from the perspective of Justina, attending the prom with her best friend (although she wants it to be more). So how did she end up in a ditch in the early hours of the morning covered in various food stains. The story is based around the events of the previous evening. Told in a series of flashbacks focusing on aspects of Justina's appearance as their basis.

Justina is a wonderful character, the odd one out at her high school as she isn't from a wealthy family, she only just scrapes into the catchment area of an affluent zip code. She buys her clothes from a thrift store and soon learns to only wear black as her rich classmates cant tell if they previously owned them that way. Her mother is a bit overbearing and stuck in an 80's time-warp, yet her heart is on the right place.

I dont want to go into details about the plot because it really would spoil the story. That would be a shame because you really should read it for yourselves. What I will say is that although the main focus of the book is the relationship between Justina and Ian there is far more to it than that.

The plot shows that you can find friends in some very unlikely places. You should never jump to conclusions until you have all the facts. Making assumptions can lead to all the wrong things especially when you listen to other people that only have their own interests at heart. Communication is vital.

High school cliques are shown in full force especially how hard it is to get rid of a bad reputation once you have one. The use of the 'frenemy' was a wonderful addition to the plot. As well as how outward appearances can most certainly be deceptive.

This is so much more than a 'romance'; a story of self-acceptance, friendship alongside the romance as well as not being afraid to take a chance and be who you really are.

A fun, quirky debut that I would love to see published in the UK.I am sure a lot of my pupils would love it.