YA book. Can't remember title or author! Please Help!

Hello! I'm having some difficulty remembering a book I read as a teen. I read it in Jr High and again in High School, but its been so long and although I can't get it out of my mind, I also can't remember specific details.

Plot goes something like this, but it might not be exact. This is just what I seem to remember about it:

It's about a girl in High School that is sorta the un-noticed girl in school. She's not exactly an outcast, but is unpopular. And she has two best friends, one girl and one boy, (sorry, can't remember any names) that have been with her for most of her life. But then when a new boy moves in her neighborhood the two of them are attracted almost instantly and their relationship boosts her popularity at school. They start dating and I can't really remember much after that except it becomes apparent that her guy friend is in love with her. I'm pretty sure she eventually figures it out and realizes she has feelings for him as well, but I can't remember. I also seem to recall her having an odd pet, a turtle or a lizard, something out of the ordinary.

I also keep thinking one of the characters worked in a pizzeria. Either the main character or her guy friend, not sure.

The cover I remember almost exactly...its got the three main characters on it. The background is blue(?) and the girl is in front with a sorta dreamy look on her face looking out of the corner of her eyes at the boys behind her, like shes trying to choose between them. Then the boys are on either side of her in the background. One is the good guy and the other is like a bad boy, dressed in a leather jacket and long hair tied in a pony tail, but I can't remember which is which.

First time I read it would have been the early 2000's, so it was probably published sometime between then and the 1990's.

Please help if you have any idea what it might be! I've tried google and a bunch of books sites and I just can't find it with unclear details!

Is it a book by Jean Ure?

Hi! Thanks for the reply! =)

I'm checking the books but I don't see any that look familiar....do you have any specific book in mind?

Not that I recall. I thought I had seen such a cover description and it seemed like something she might write, but I'm probably completely off track. Your post reminded me of a book I haven't read but it was published way earlier, The Unchosen by Nan Gilbert, and the cover does not match (has three girls), and the plot may not match either.

No, that's not it. But thanks for the response!

I've been trying to find this book for the past week and I've not had any luck because I simply can't remember solid details. But I have not been able to get it off my mind; I've been collecting the books I read as a child and as a teen, and this was one of my favorites at the time. If only I didn't live so far away from my high school! I'd go visit and look for the book in the library. I worked as an aide for the librarian, so she probably wouldn't have a problem with that. lol.

Was it a recent book (is that why you're guessing no earlier than 1990s)?

I fairly certain it is. If I'm recalling the details correctly, the fashions and rhetoric of the language and story should place it somewhere in the mid 90's to early 2000's. And I know that I read it the first time when I was in Jr High, which means sometime between 2001 and 2003.

It has some similarities to "Katie John and Heathcliff," by Mary Calhoun. Heathcliff was a nickname Katie gave to the handsome popular boy. I don't remember his real name. I think her girl friend was Sue, and her boy friend who told Heathcliff off in the end was definitely Edmund.

Touchstone: Katie John and Heathcliff

Thanks for the help! But that is unfortunately not it. The book cover is a bit more modern and the teens are in High school, not JR high. I just WISH that I could remember something more specific! A name or an event. I think there may have been a formal school dance like homecoming or prom, but I could be wrong. I just know that something happened and there was some angst between the girl and one of the boys.... I seem to remember her mother or aunt comforting her about fighting with one of the boys. I'm half tempted to take a drive down to the high school and check it out myself!! :/

Thanks to the people at Ipl2 (http://www.ipl.org/) the book has been located! =

For those interested, The title is "Boy of my Dreams" by Dyan Sheldon. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9666120-the-boy-of-my-dreams

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Touchstone: Boy of My Dreams