Surviving High School: A Novel by Lele Pons, Melissa de la Cruz Pages: 272
Published by Gallery Books on April 5, 2016
Genres: Young Adult, contemporary, Humor
Source: eARC from Publisher
Vine superstar Lele Pons—“one of the coolest girls on the web” (Teen Vogue)—teams up with #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz (The Isle of the Lost) in this lovable debut novel about the wilds and wonders of high school that’s as laugh-out-loud addictive as Lele’s popular videos.
Ten million followers and I still sit alone at lunch. Lele is a bulls-eye target at her new school in Miami until, overnight, her digital fame catapults the girl with cheerleader looks, a seriously silly personality, and a self-deprecating funny bone into the popular crowd. Now she’s facing a whole new set of challenges—the relentless drama, the ruthless cliques, the unexpected internet celebrity—all while trying to keep her grades up and make her parents proud.
Filled with the zany enthusiasm that has made Lele into Vine’s most viewed star, this charming novel is proof that high school is a trip. From crushing your crushes (what’s up with that hot transfer student Alexei??) to throwing Insta-fake parties with your BFFs and moaning over homework (GAH) with your frenemies, high school is a rollercoaster of exhilarating highs and totally embarrassing lows. Leave it to Lele to reassure us that falling flat on your face is definitely not the end of the world. Fans of Mean Girls will love this fun and heartwarming fish-out-of-water story.
Surviving High School is a novel co-authored by vine superstar Lele Pons (and don’t worry, I had never heard of her either. I am more of a youtube kind of gal.) and author Melissa De La Cruz. Surviving High School is a standalone young adult contemporary comedy. This book cracked me up. It is certainly not a book to take overly seriously. It is very irreverent, but hilarious! I loved all of the pop culture references, and the main character, Lele is a hoot. She is not the most serious or deep individuals ever to grace the halls of high school, but she cracked me up. I am not really sure if this is based at all on Lele’s high school experience, and I don’t know what to think if it was…even very loosely. Either way, this is a book to read, laugh and not take too seriously. If you do that, I think you will have a good time.
Surviving High School seems to be a very polarizing book for readers. People have either loved it or intensely disliked it. Honestly, I really enjoyed Surviving High School. I took it for what it is… a pop culture filled, irreverent and sarcastic story about a high school girl. It is kooky and wacky, and I get that may not be for everyone, but I think if you are in the mood to read something that will have you giggling away, this is the book for you. If this is not your cup of tea, then this is certainly not the book for you. But I thought it was a fun ride. Lele is a girl that goes insta-famous on the internet, and we get to watch how that rolls over to her “real-life”. I loved this concept because in a world of social media stars, this could be a very real reality for some teens. I have no idea whether it would be this extreme for them or not, but it was fun reading, because it didn’t seem so far to stretch for me. Sure it was over the top, but that added to the humor for me.
This book reminded me of Mean Girls, like the summary says, and also It’s All Your Fault by Paul Rudnick. It has that same kind of hold nothing back, everyone and everything is fair game contemporary humor. It seemed like every sentence had a pop culture reference of some kind. I love stuff like that because I am kind of a pop culture junkie. (my head is full of all kinds of useless pop culture facts.) It kind of made me want to go watch Lele Pons vine video’s to see if they are anything like the book, and to see if the Lele from the book is anything like the real life Lele. I would love to know how much of this overlaps with real Lele’s life.
Bottom line: if you are looking for a light hearted read that is not serious at all, check out Surviving High School. Pull up your pop culture wikipedia and get ready to laugh.
. @BookBriefs reviews Surviving High School: A Novel by @LelePons & @MelissadelaCruz Click To Tweet
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Giselle
This sounds like a really fun read! I love these kinds of humor-filled books to escape reality once in a while! Glad you liked it, Michelle! 🙂
Elena
Sounds like a good read
william gossage
This book sounds like it be a great read
Rachel B
sounds like a fun coming of age book. thanks for sharing
Edye
Sounds like an awesome book!
Kara Lauren
This looks like a fun read!