Overview
The hilarious online misadventuring of a teenage girl, as told through her blog.Serafina doesn't have a boyfriend, doesn't have a best friend, and her parents fight all the time. But she does have a shiny new laptop (a present from her guilt-ridden and therefore overly-generous dad). And with the shiny new laptop, comes a shiny new identity: serafina67, blogging (and kissing) addict.
But in a year when the secrets turn serious, and friends and parents might not be what they seem, is spilling your whole life on the Internet such a bright idea? It might just lead to tears, trouble, hilarious online adventures and a fresh new take on writing - a novel told as a blog.
Synopsis
Serafina doesn't have a boyfriend, doesn't have a best friend, and her parents fight all the time. But she does have a shiny new laptop (a present from her guilt-ridden and therefore overly-generous dad). And with the shiny new laptop, comes a shiny new identity: serafina67, blogging (and kissing) addict.
But in a year when the secrets turn serious, and friends and parents might not be what they seem, is spilling your whole life on the Internet such a bright idea? It might just lead to tears, trouble, hilarious online adventures and a fresh new take on writing - a novel told as a blog.
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School Library Journal
Gr 7-10
Serafina67 is Sarah Duffy's "new mature blog screen name." The entire novel is written as a blog, with Sarah being "totally honest," one of the goals she reveals in an early entry. Sarah must deal with her mother's misery after her divorce and her father's upcoming marriage to the "Monster." Trying to help a friend with an eating disorder via her blog backfires horribly. There is an ongoing reference to an "incident" that she is trying to get over and her main goal of reaching total happiness by its anniversary. The plotting is predicable and the incident, when it is finally revealed, is not really much of one at all. On top of the snogging and the lolling there is also a great deal of cyberspeak, so the narrative can become overwhelming. Despite the melodrama, however, Sarah is a sympathetic character and readers will relate to her. Her parents are real, caring adults and not the caricatures often found in teen novels. Day does not tie up everything but leaves readers feeling that Sarah will be okay to blog another day.-Shari Fesko, Southfield Public Library, MI
\Editorials
School Library Journal
Gr 7-10
Serafina67 is Sarah Duffy's "new mature blog screen name." The entire novel is written as a blog, with Sarah being "totally honest," one of the goals she reveals in an early entry. Sarah must deal with her mother's misery after her divorce and her father's upcoming marriage to the "Monster." Trying to help a friend with an eating disorder via her blog backfires horribly. There is an ongoing reference to an "incident" that she is trying to get over and her main goal of reaching total happiness by its anniversary. The plotting is predicable and the incident, when it is finally revealed, is not really much of one at all. On top of the snogging and the lolling there is also a great deal of cyberspeak, so the narrative can become overwhelming. Despite the melodrama, however, Sarah is a sympathetic character and readers will relate to her. Her parents are real, caring adults and not the caricatures often found in teen novels. Day does not tie up everything but leaves readers feeling that Sarah will be okay to blog another day.-Shari Fesko, Southfield Public Library, MI
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