Paper or Plastic by Vivi Barnes Pages: 352
Published by Entangled Teen, Macmillan on February 3, 2015
Genres: contemporary, General, Love & Romance, Social Issues, Young Adult
Source: eARC from Publisher
Welcome to SmartMart, where crime pays minimum wage...
Busted. Alexis Dubois just got caught shoplifting a cheap tube of lipstick at the local SmartMart. She doesn’t know what’s worse—disappointing her overbearing beauty-pageant-obsessed mother for the zillionth time…or her punishment. Because Lex is forced to spend her summer working at the store, where the only things stranger than the staff are the customers.
Now Lex is stuck in the bizarro world of big-box retail. Coupon cutters, jerk customers, and learning exactly what a “Code B” really is (ew). And for added awkwardness, her new supervisor is the totally cute—and adorably geeky—Noah Grayson. Trying to balance her out-of-control mother, her pitching position on the softball team, and her secret crush on the school geek makes for one crazy summer. But ultimately, could the worst job in the world be the best thing that ever happened to her?
Paper Or plastic is a story about a teenage girl that gets caught shoplifting with her friend and as a punishment, she has to work at the SmartMart, a very uncool store in town, to repay her crime. The whole shoplifting incident happened very early on in the story so some of the details were a blur. But even so, I thought that Paper or Plastic was a very cute and fun fluffy contemporary. Great for a light read.
I thought Vivi Barnes did a wonderful job with her characters. Especially considering the fact that initially Alexis and her friends seemed like real brats, it was a big accomplishment to make me like Alexis as much as I did. I am so happy to report that my initial impression of her was incorrect. Of course my impression of some of her “friends” and of her mom wasn’t incorrect at all, but sometimes those “bad” characters can add to a story too. I mean, hey, at least they pull some strong emotions out of you.
What I appreciated most about Alexis was that she was able to put up with her mom. I know that seems like a silly thing to like the most about her, but even I wanted to choke her mom out a few times.
It was impressive the amount of life that Vivi Barnes was able to breathe into such a large cast of secondary characters. Some I absolutely loved and just want to hug- I’m talking about you Grandma!!, some very the friends that even though they are annoying, you still love them and some I less than liked. And then there was Noah. Noah, who even though he made me roll my eyes a few times, was super adorable and was a hoot with Alexis. All of the characters came together to form a fun and kooky cast. Character driven readers will really enjoy Paper or Plastic, just like I did.
The twists and turns kept me engaged in the story the whole time, and I felt like I flew through reading this book. I can’t wait to see what is going to happen next. the ending of Sea and Stone kind of left all the readers in a lurch. I still have some questions. I felt like a few times, Kate Avery Ellison would take us 98% of the way there with a new twist or development, and I would still have something lingering as to that last 2%. Some question or what if. But I have a feeling those couple of things will be addressed in the next book. And speaking of the next book, bring it on please! I want to read it right now.
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Rachael @ Rachael Turns Pages
This book sounds like a fun read and I always can use some reads that make me laugh.
LeKeisha
Glad you enjoyed this book. I’m eager to read it myself. Entangled Teen’s YA Contemporary novels are some of the best works I’ve had the pleasure of reading. #ILoveGeekyReads
Christine
This sounds like such a sweet, fluffy read–perfect for Valentine’s Day! 🙂