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The Boyfriend List by Emily Lockhart
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The Boyfriend List

by Emily Lockhart

Series: Ruby Oliver (1)

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English (28)  Tagalog (1)  All languages (29)
Showing 1-5 of 28 (next | show all)
Reviewed by Mrs. Foley
From Destiny Library record, "Ruby Oliver, a moderately popular fifteen-year-old who has suddenly become a social pariah, begins seeing a psychiatrist and makes a list of all her past boyfriends in an attempt to understand where her life went wrong."

This is not one I will be recommending. It is just okay. Fine for a book "just to read" and may have some insight into the dating angst of some students, but just not that great of a book.

Review from Booklist (April 1, 2005 (Vol. 101, No. 15))
Gr. 8-11. Fifteen-year-old Ruby Oliver's life is full of challenges. She lives on a houseboat; attends private school--on scholarship; and her boyfriend has dumped her for her best friend. Nothing, however, is worse than having her "boyfriend list"(homework from her shrink) passed around school and being branded a "slut."It's her therapy, during which she examines current and past events--including feelings about boys--that helps put Ruby back on track, allowing her to gain insight into her relationships and the importance of self-worth. Ruby's character is sympathetic, witty, and sometimes frustrating, and it shines through her introspective, occasionally funny narrative, which incorporates such familiar teen issues as coping with peer pressure and a broken heart. The time line is somewhat confusing, and the abundant, often lengthy footnoted asides occasionally distract from the story's flow, but readers will find many of Ruby's experiences familiar, and they'll appreciate the story as a lively, often entertaining read. ( )
  hickmanmc | Nov 17, 2009 |
Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

The additional title of THE BOYFRIEND LIST is (15 guys, 11 shrink appointments, 4 ceramic frogs and me, Ruby Oliver). It's very enlightening, entertaining, and oh-so-paramount to the book. This is the life and times of nearly sixteen-year old Ruby Oliver, former girlfriend of Jackson, former best friend of Kim, former semi-popular Sophomore high-school girl. Now just a girl with panic attacks, a Xerox-copied "Boyfriend List" circulating through school, and a shrink named Doctor Z.

Ruby's life used to be pretty normal, until her boyfriend broke up with her to date her best friend. Then the panic attacks started--shortness of breath, a tightening sensation in the chest, dizziness and nausea--that had her parents shipping her off to a psychiatrist to work out her "issues." Those issues would mainly be, in chronological order:

1) Adam
2) Finn
3) Hutch
4) Gideon
5) Ben
6) Tommy
7) Chase
8) Sky
9) Michael
10) Angelo
11) Shiv
12) Billy
13) Jackson
14) Noel
15) Cabbie

It might sound, in retrospect, like a lot of guys in a short period of time. But Ruby's made a list of every boy who has ever meant something to her, and these are the fifteen guys that make up the list. In THE BOYFRIEND LIST, we learn about all the guys in Ruby's life, from Adam to Cabbie and everyone in between--and the result is a laugh-out-loud coming-of-age story that is well worth reading. ( )
  GeniusJen | Oct 10, 2009 |
I enjoyed this book. It was actually quite funny. Ruby went through alot being a fifteen year old girl and all. I would read more by this author. ( )
  RPerritt | Sep 13, 2009 |
Kearsten says: Ruby goes back through her fifteenth year, complete with LOTS of boys, betrayal, broken friendships and shrink appointments.

I found this a bit frustrating. Ruby is a bit hard to like - yes, she did get the rough end of the stick in a few instances, and the last month or so of school I wouldn't wish on an enemy, but she brought a lot of stuff on herself and doesn't have much respect for herself. I'd want to shake her if she were real. As it was, I just wanted the book to end well.

It doesn't, not really. She doesn't end badly, but I always like some come-uppance for the jerks, but that didn't happen - not even remotely. Boo. ( )
  59Square | Aug 26, 2009 |
Ruby goes back through her fifteenth year, complete with LOTS of boys, betrayal, broken friendships and shrink appointments.

I found this a bit frustrating. Ruby is a bit hard to like - yes, she did get the rough end of the stick in a few instances, and the last month or so of school I wouldn't wish on an enemy, but she brought a lot of stuff on herself and doesn't have much respect for herself. I'd want to shake her if she were real. As it was, I just wanted the book to end well.

It doesn't, not really. She doesn't end badly, but I always like some come-uppance for the jerks, but that didn't happen - not even remotely. Boo. ( )
  kayceel | Jul 4, 2009 |
Showing 1-5 of 28 (next | show all)
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For my dear old high school friends, who were (and still are) excellent and hilarious-and who never did anything like the bad stuff people do in this book
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Book description
Ruby Oliver is a teenage girl who is in high school. She is the only child and her parents worry about her a lot. All of her friends are rich. She lives in a boat house type of thing.

She has a lot of stress because she broke up with her boyfriend and all her friends are mad at her. All of a sudden she got a panic attack while eating dinner with her mom and dad. Her parents where arguing while she was having the panic attack and she got even more mad. Her mom got nervous because they have a friend who has panic attacks and he never comes out of his apartment. Thats when she meets her therapist Dr.Z

(third summary, Liliana) Ruby had a crush on her friends brother but nothing ever happened. She wrote Ruby loves GVD for Gideon Van Duesen on her shoe. Her friend Nora saw it and she freaked out because it was her older brother. She had promised Ruby she wouldn't tell Gideon but someone did and he asked her if he could see. She got shy and said no but then he tackled her down in the grass and saw. He didn't get bothered by it, in fact he thought it was sweet and said he rather have had her write it than any other of Nora's friend.

As Ruby talks about other boys and what happened with them she seems to remember everything about Jackson(her actual boyfriend). She remembers the first time they went on a date to a hamburger hangout place for juniors and seniors. She remembers when his ex-girlfriend called him and she happened to pick up. And she just remembers how good he made her felt and now wishes they were back together.

(3rd summary Martha)
well right now ruby is talking about Tommy hazard. he was her and her best friend Kimmy imaginary boyfriend. he was the perfect guy for both of them. but for ruby her Tommy changed through out the years while Kimmy's stayed the same. and they always compared Tommy to the real life guys or boyfriends they had. but for some reason they would never stand up to Tommy's standard. they would call them the right now not the right one. and in the book it was time for Halloween. where ruby and her class went to the boys and girls club to volunteer in a Halloween party for the kids. there she meet Finn who was Kimmy's boyfriend. through out the night ruby and Finn hit it of. also because they were wearing kinda the same outfit. she was wearing a kitty costume while Finn was wearing a "panther" which looked like a kitty to ruby. for some reason Kimmy got kinda mad or jealous. which brought it down for her to get into a fight with her boyfriend Finn. when this was happening ruby's parents were going to a Halloweens party. but her mom didn't know what to wear. but his dad did not want to wear what her mom wanted them to wear. they wanted to wear a taco. her being the filling of the taco and him being the shell.

(fourth summary Liliana) The list has moved on to Tommy Hazard. Tommy Hazard has it all. He is prince charming for ruby and her best friend kim. He like the both girls but they don't seem to care. Tommy spends every moment he can with ruby or kim or even both at times. This Tommy character is an imaginary boy that ruby and kim have made up. They made him up because they wish a special boy like Tommy would come into there life.

Tommy changes over time for Ruby. Sometimes he is a california blonde surfer. Other times he's this quiet boy that ruby talks to. For kim he's always been the same. Clean cut guy that's always there for her. He was the one kim went to when she would break up with her boyfriends.

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0385732074, Paperback)

Ruby Oliver is 15 and has a shrink. She knows it’s unusual, but give her a break—she’s had a rough 10 days. In the past 10 days she:
lost her boyfriend (#13 on the list),

lost her best friend (Kim),

lost all her other friends (Nora, Cricket),

did something suspicious with a boy (#10),

did something advanced with a boy (#15),

had an argument with a boy (#14),

drank her first beer (someone handed it to her),

got caught by her mom (ag!),

had a panic attack (scary),

lost a lacrosse game (she’s the goalie),

failed a math test (she’ll make it up),

hurt Meghan’s feelings (even though they aren’t really friends),

became a social outcast (no one to sit with at lunch)

and had graffiti written about her in the girls’ bathroom (who knows what was in the boys’!?!).


But don’t worry—Ruby lives to tell the tale. And make more lists.


From the Hardcover edition.

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:55 -0400)

(see all 2 descriptions)

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