Boy Proof

Boy Proof is effin great! Seriously 208 pages of awesomeness.

Victoria Jurgen is a great character. She starts off very judgmental of others, and really not sure of herself. She takes on the persona and name of her favorite character Egg from her favorite sci-fi movie, Terminal Earth even donning a cloak. She keeps people at a distance never wanting to give anyone a chance to get close to her. With the help of the new guy Max she realizes that it's okay to be herself. I love how much Egg grows throughout the story. She starts peeling off these layers, slowly revealing herself to her peers, and the readers. What can I say, I love Egg!

Ms. Castellucci's writing is wonderful. Straight to the point with great pacing. I felt the story show more constantly moving. The progression of Victoria's changes is done in such a way that I was excited to see who Victoria really was behind the whole Egg persona. Boy Proof is so much more than just a girl meets boy story, it's about one finding themselves and being happy with who they are. It's about possibilities and being open to them. It's about taking a chance on people.

I really can't say enough great things about Boy Proof.
Love! show less

Inscribed with a dedication to "all nerdy girls everywhere," Boy Proof, by Cecil Castellucci, an endearing romantic comedy-type novel set in Hollywood, has plenty of Sci-Fi references to go around. Now, as someone who recently made an X-Files related "Erlenmeyer Flask" reference in casual conversation, I may be biased, but I found the book's geekiness refreshing and engaging. Victoria "Egg" Jurgen is obsessed with the Sci-Fi movie Terminal Earth to the point where she dresses like Egg, its main character, quotes extensively from the movie, and holds everyone and everything else at a generous distance. She believes that her big brain and general aloofness have made her "boy proof," which of course invites the introduction of the other show more main character, Max Carter, a cool transfer student who seems genuinely smart and wonders why Egg doesn't use her talents for some better purpose. Cue adorableness! show less

Victoria calls herself Egg after her favourite Film character and lives in Hollywood with her actor mum. Max is new in her school and she's interested in him, but keeps pushing people away. She's also a gifted photographer and helps her father build special effect makeup for films. Although she's near graduation and her life has been mapped out, she has doubts about where to go with her life and finding her place.
Interesting and touching this reads a fair bit like reality. I was the invisible person in school and so I did really empathise with her situation.

Egg is deliberately boy proof and revels in being a loner. Then Max moves to town.
One would suppose that all geeks need to be the prom queen is a makeover. At least, that's what most books and movies tell us. Boy Proof looks at the geeks that are happy being geeks. His protagonist loves sci fi and even dresses up like her favorite character every day. It's nice to see that although she may eventually drop the character, she never gives up what makes her different from other people.
This books belongs in every high school that has "alternative" people.

This is the kind of book I wish I'd had when I was in high school. Not that my teenager self would have read it - I was a little snobbish about YA books, and exceptionally snobbish about contemporary YA books. But still - it's one of those books that you wish you could hand to every geeky teen.

Egg (real name Victoria) is the daughter of an 80s actress and a special effects prosthetics designer. She is angsty, rude, obsessed with a sci-fi action flick heroine, and convinced that she is a loner. In other words, she's your typical (geeky) teen. And while the plot is predictable (angsty teen realizes having friends is worth it, boys can be cool, and that real life is more important than the movies), Victoria feels real. And despite the fact show more that she starts out as a complete bitch to her family, friends, and pretty much everyone, it was easy to empathize with her. show less

This book was fantastic.

I read this book in a single sitting, and although at first I was not certain that I was going to read it, within the first thirty pages I was hooked. The book fails to fall to the conventions that young adult books tend to (normalization of strange characters or over emphasizing the importance of strangeness.) The books tone tends towards teh realistic and characters are made to account for their faults. It is good to be unique, but it is unrealistic to expect people to bend over backwards in awe of your uniqueness. It is good to be normal, but not to be conventional. Boy Proof makes a good argument for being true to yourself and not the obsessions you fall for.

I loved it.

For the first page or so, I thought that I was going to read a lightly enjoyable teen romance with stock characters. But the story has nicely three dimensional people living in it. I will hunt out more works by this author.