Cute, teen, chick lit novelPilgrims Don't Wear Pink (Pilgrims, #1)
by Stephanie Kate Strohm
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: May 8, 2012
Publisher: Graphia
Pages: 208
Source: Amazon Vine
Reviewed By: Kate McMurry
Seventeen-year-old Libby Kelting is offered a thrilling opportunity to combine her two greatest passions, fashion and history, as a summer intern at Camden Harbor, a living-history museum in Maine. Her primary responsibility is running a day camp for little girls where, dressed in period clothing, she teaches her eager little charges cooking and sewing as they were done in 1791. Unfortunately for Libby, though, there are some drawbacks to her great summer job: She isn't allowed to use her cell phone, and her best friend is in the midst of a crisis; two of her roommates are jerks; a gorgeous boy who is a fellow intern asks her out but something always seems to get in the way of their date actually happening, and last but definitely not least, there might be a ghost haunting the boat where Libby sleeps.
I was delighted to have a chance to read some contemporary, young-adult comedy in the midst of an overwhelming abundance of dark and violent YA novels these days. This book is very well written, filled with wit, and the heroine is a girl to root for. She's not only pretty and fashion conscious, but she's very smart, too. Best of all, she gets into trouble not because she's an idiot, but because she's young, understandably naïve, and generally expects the best of people.
For parents and teachers who might want to know: This book is G-rated. The virginal heroine engages in no sexuality stronger than a kiss and some embarrassed glances at a buff boy chopping wood with his shirt off. There is no violence, foul language, drugs or alcohol.
Heroine: 4
Subcharacters: 4
Writing: 4
Chick-Lit Plot: 5
Romantic Subplot: 4
Overall: 4
YA, paranormal, amateur-sleuth, murder mystery/thriller
, may either enjoy or resent this book depending on their attitude toward a blatant homage to the show. DLM was clearly aimed at adults, and though this book has been marketed as a "teen" novel, it, too, is very close to being R-rated. This book is not, in my own opinion, quite as funny as DLM, but it is definitely not meant to be taken as drama. A clear example of that is the toning down of the real consequences of the type of violence Lex committed before being shipped away from her family. That downplay acts to take a great deal of harshness out of the dramatic equation of the story. As for the humor itself, it tends to come from two main sources. The first is a sardonic under-reaction to horrific events which encourages the audience to laugh rather than grimace or quake. The second is the use of word play. Examples of the latter include the title itself, "Croak," which is a slang word for dying, and the Grim Reapers' living in a town called Grim, with streets like Slain Lane.
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. The current age range for the label of "young adult" is as low as 11 and as high as 21. Publishers are offering no parental guidance whatsoever, so reviewers are left with that task.