Overview
Mia thinks boys are immature. They only talk about cars and sports. They only think about sex.
Will has no idea what girls talk about. He wishes he were a fly on the wall. He wishes he had a tape recorder and a hidden microphone ....
Fifteen Love is a funny up-and-down story about a boy and a girl, a viola and a tennis racquet; about family and friends, flirting and true love.
Mia, a violist, and Will, a tennis player, each relate their feelings about each other, school, friends, and family troubles as they struggle to understand the opposite sex and to survive being fifteen.
Synopsis
New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age, 2004
"Funny, quirky, and satisfyingly romantic."— School Library Journal
"Where [Fifteen Love] really shines is in its intimate yet universal detailing of Will and Mia's angst-filled conversations, petty jealousies, bad viola jokes, self-doubts, and personal recriminations .... Very funny."— The Horn Book
Mia thinks boys are immature. They only talk about cars and sports. They only think about sex.
Will has no idea what girls talk about. He wishes he were a fly on the wall. He wishes he had a tape recorder and a hidden microphone ....
Fifteen Love is a funny up-and-down story about a boy and a girl, a viola and a tennis racquet; about family and friends, flirting and true love.
As a teenager, Robert Corbet constantly fell in love with blond girls named Michelle. At college, he always fell for clever girls with long velvet dresses and short, dark hair. Then he met a girl in pink overalls who rode a motorcycle. After a long, agonizing courtship, they bought a station wagon, had three children, and lived happily ever after. Robert lives in Melbourne, Australia. He is also the author of Shelf Life for Walker & Company.
Publishers Weekly
Alternating the points of view of two smitten 15-year-olds, Australian author Corbet (The Passenger Seat) humorously displays the painful side of falling in love for the first time. Will, a tennis player, and Mia, a violist, reveal to readers their attraction to each other from the outset. But every time their paths converge, disaster seems to follow. Initially, Will is struck dumb whenever he runs into Mia in the school corridors ("Thank you for calling Men Who Can't Speak. We have placed you in a very long line," Will thinks to himself). After Will eventually finds his tongue and asks Mia to a tennis tournament, miscommunications turn the first date into a comedy of errors. Ironically, Will starts dating Mia's (ex-) best friend, Vanessa, while Mia (having discovered that her father is having an affair) gives up on men altogether ("It's official.... All men are evil," she declares to her mother). In the end, it is Will's feisty paraplegic brother, Dave, and Mia's mischievous beagle, Harriet, who (accidentally) save the day, bringing the teens together for an all's-well-that-ends-well conclusion. Besides providing witty dialogue and hilarious misfortunes, the author adroitly invents characters complicated enough to be interesting and genuine enough to draw sympathy from readers. Anyone who has experienced the stumbling blocks along the path to love will appreciate the awkward first steps of Mia's and Will's romance. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Alternating the points of view of two smitten 15-year-olds, Australian author Corbet (The Passenger Seat) humorously displays the painful side of falling in love for the first time. Will, a tennis player, and Mia, a violist, reveal to readers their attraction to each other from the outset. But every time their paths converge, disaster seems to follow. Initially, Will is struck dumb whenever he runs into Mia in the school corridors ("Thank you for calling Men Who Can't Speak. We have placed you in a very long line," Will thinks to himself). After Will eventually finds his tongue and asks Mia to a tennis tournament, miscommunications turn the first date into a comedy of errors. Ironically, Will starts dating Mia's (ex-) best friend, Vanessa, while Mia (having discovered that her father is having an affair) gives up on men altogether ("It's official.... All men are evil," she declares to her mother). In the end, it is Will's feisty paraplegic brother, Dave, and Mia's mischievous beagle, Harriet, who (accidentally) save the day, bringing the teens together for an all's-well-that-ends-well conclusion. Besides providing witty dialogue and hilarious misfortunes, the author adroitly invents characters complicated enough to be interesting and genuine enough to draw sympathy from readers. Anyone who has experienced the stumbling blocks along the path to love will appreciate the awkward first steps of Mia's and Will's romance. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
This is a funny story about a boy and a girl, Mia and Will, and their thoughts about each other. Mia's viola and family and friends are a big part of her life. A tennis racket and family are a big part of Will's life. School, friends and dealing with family make things somewhat difficult for these teenagers. Everyone going through or having gone through those trying teen times can relate to and will find amusing the scenarios of Mia's and Will's thinking about each other. There are some twists and turns before getting to the end of the story; and despite all of the trials and mishaps, Mia and Will get together and find that they have common interests as well as some romance. 2003, Walker,— Naomi Butler
VOYA
Mia is a violist who constantly plays second fiddle to her best friend, Vanessa. She is part of the "in" crowd but feels like an outsider. Mia's family also is coming apart at the seams. Her once-happy home life is threatened by her father's "late nights at work." Mia's thoughts about men are that they are suspect at best. She thinks that all her male classmates think about is sports and sex. Will is one of those classmates, and he fits Mia's description to some extent-he is a seemingly driven star tennis player. Will also has some of his own problems at home: His younger brother is wheelchair-bound, and Will's tennis coach father is extremely demanding, taking all the fun out of the game. To complicate things further, Will likes Mia; Mia also likes Will. Do they tell each other and live happily ever after? Of course not. Mia and Will relate their sides of the story in alternating chapters that help the reader to gain insight into their homes, relationships, and insecurities. This love story is not a mushy one, and both voices are spot-on throughout the book. Secondary characters such as Will's brother, Dave, and Mia's trampy friend, Vanessa, are just as well drawn. Will's to-do lists and the story line in which Mia gets back at her father through her viola are true gems. Both humorous and heartbreaking, this solid read will be a winner among teens. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2003, Walker, 186p,— Kimberly Paone