"Everything Sucks" Review

Everything Sucks: Losing My Mind and Finding Myself in a High School Quest for Cool by Hannah Friedman

Publisher: HCI Teens (August 3, 2009)

Reading Level: Young Adult

256 pages (paperback)

Summary: When everything sucks, change everything . . .

And that's exactly what Hannah Friedman set out to do in an ambitious attempt to bust out of a life of obscurity and absurdity and into an alternate world of glamour, wealth, and popularity.

Being dubbed 'That Monkey Girl' by middle school bullies and being pulled out of sixth grade to live on a tour bus with her agoraphobic mother, her smelly little brother, and her father's hippie band mates convinces Hannah that she is destined for a life of freakdom.

But when she enters one of the country's most prestigious boarding schools on scholarship, Hannah transforms herself into everything she is not: cool. By senior year, she has a perfect millionaire boyfriend, a perfect GPA, a perfect designer wardrobe, and is part of the most popular clique in school, but somehow everything begins to suck far worse than when she first started. Her newfound costly drug habit, eating disorder, identity crisis, and Queen-Bee attitude lead to the unraveling of Hannah's very unusual life.

Putting her life back together will take more than a few clicks of her heels, or the perfect fit of a glass slipper, in this not-so-fairy tale of going from rock bottom to head of the class and back again.

Review: After watching Hannah Friedman's YouTube videos, I knew I had to read her memoir! I thought Everything Sucks was fantastic! Hannah Friedman writes about her life with a monkey as an older sister and being teased about it in elementary, and how she missed the first year of middle school to go on a band tour with her family. When she finally gets back to the States, Hannah is determine to not be the "monkey girl" in middle school. Only, things don't exactly go her way and she is taunted even more so. Finally, after a while, her parents decide to get her into a private school. Hannah decides that she will fit into this new school. She soon becomes popular and struggles to keep fitting in.

My favorite part was when Hannah got accepted into CitySemester. CitySemester is a program for high school students and they got to experience life in New York City. Hannah goes during her second semester of her Junior year. I just loved that Hannah was happy and got along with the people there, and the freedom she was given.

Towards the end of the book, it started to getting really depressing for me. Hannah starts struggling with drugs and eating disorders and grades...as well as a death. Then, there was the epilogue. I loved the ending to that, it was such a nice closure!

Writing: 10/10

Voice: 10/10

Cover: D+. I didn't like the cover picture but I thought the guitar was nice.

Who I liked: I loved Hannah and I also thought her mom was amazing in. She reminds me of my mother of how she's so overprotective, but she was also sarcastic and hilarious.

Wicked quote: I absolutely loved the dedication "For everyone who is sure they will never fit in. And for my parents, who taught me that it's just more fun not to."

Overall: If you are looking for a realistic young adult book, this is it!

The song that is used in the trailer, Glamourous by Fergie is the *perfect* song about the boarding school!