Full review at http://yannabe.com/2009/12/29/boy-boo...

Summary: Ruby Oliver just started her junior year, but she still doesn’t have much to speak of in the way of friends—and definitely no boyfriend. Not only that, but the one boy she wants to move into the BF column? Roo’s former girlfriend who’s slowly warming back up to a friendship with her happens to have a crush on that same boy.

Review: The rest of this series made for quick, fun reads. The two issues I had with The Boyfriend List—too many footnotes and a confusing story timeline—did not crop up in these two books.

Just pure, clean fun. Well, except for the flirty bits and also the kissing.

This exchange between Roo and her crush Noel made me smile. Someone at school called Roo a slut, and she’s telling Noel about it over an afterschool pizza.

“I wish I’d responded to the slut thing, though.”

“What is there to say?”

“I don’t know. Maybe ‘I prefer tart’?”

“Tart is nice. It’s a pastry.”

“Maybe I could reclaim the word slut,” I said. “Like gay people have reclaimed the word queer, so it’s not a whatever.”

“Epithet.”

“Yeah. I could run around with signs. ‘Slutty and Proud!’”

“Sluts of America Unite!”

“Exactly.” I took a sip of my pop.

“Your mom could wear a T-shirt: ‘I’m proud of my slutty kid.’” Noel fished around in his backpack for a pen. “Here, I’ll design you a slut logo.” He found a ballpoint and started to draw on a piece of notebook paper. A sketch of a woman wearing a superhero cape, glasses like mine and a strange pointy bra.

“I don’t think I ever told you that none of the stuff people say about me is true,” I blurted out.

“About the boyfriend list?”

“I was never with all those guys.”

Noel shook his head. “I wouldn’t care if you were.” ( )

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

In this sequel to THE BOYFRIEND LIST, we get to catch up on the life of Ruby Oliver, who last year had quite a time living down the infamous xeroxed list that made its way through her high school. Now in possession of a driver's license, a mission known as the [...]Rescue Squad, a former best friend who is spending a semester in Tokyo, a shrink named Doctor Z who still befuddles her, and a job at the Woodland Park Zoo, Ruby feels like her life just might be getting back on track. Maybe. Possibly. Sort of.

She's once again working on The Boy Book, a work-in-progress guide to life and boys that she started long ago with Kim (the once best friend), Cricket (another former friend), and Nora (still a kind of friend). Filled with such facts as "The Care and Ownership of [....]," "Levels of Boyfriends," and "Why You Want the Guy You Can't Have," The Boy Book was once a joint effort. Now, it's simply something that Ruby feels the need to add to as her life gets--if it's even possible--more complicated.

As she becomes better friends with Noel, she wonders if she's got a crush on him. Or, in fact, does Noel have a crush on her? And what about Angelo, who is quite a good scammer, but also happens to be the son of her mother's best friend? Even more importantly, what should she do about Jackson, who was once her boyfriend but is now in love with Kim? Ever since she saw him hugging on another girl at the zoo, Ruby has been plagued with indecision about whether or not to tell Kim. After all, Kim was once her best friend, and she deserves to know what her boyfriend is doing while she's studying away in Japan. On the other hand, they're no longer friends, and Ruby knows that there's a part of her who only wants to hurt Kim the way she was hurt in the past.

As Ruby deals with the continuing trials and tribulations of high school, crushes, and panic attacks, she comes to the realization that she just might really be better off without Jackson. And although she misses Kim, she now has new friends who round out her life and keep it interesting. The Boy Book has served its purpose, and Ruby knows now that nothing in life is constant. Knowing and understanding that is, after all, what makes girls smarter than boys.

THE BOY BOOK is the perfect follow up to THE BOYFRIEND LIST, and I'm sad to see the end of Ruby Oliver. Unless Ms. Lockhart plans to let us in on The Girl Book, which would be a major treat. ( )

Hilarious continuation of Ruby Oliver's school adventures - a must read for fans of the first book. Again, Ruby's growth as a person feels real, but the books is still full of fun. ( )

Second book in the Ruby Oliver series and I loved just as much as the first one, if not more. I cannot wait for the next book(s) in the series. The Boy Book delves a bit deeper into Ruby's troubles, and the problems that she has (both her fault and the fault of others). I really like everything about this series. I'm not sure if it's because my high school was pretty painful (to me, apparently other people don't feel this way) or just because Lockhart's story telling is brilliant. But I found myself just devouring these books. ( )

Very cute book (sequel to The Boyfriend List), makes me glad I'm not in high school anymore. I would recommend it to any teenage girl because it will help them put their lives into perspective. The main character is a high school junior, Ruby Oliver, who is pretty much normal- does stupid things, has humiliating things happen to her, etc. The moral of the story is that there really is more to life than boys. ;-) ( )