Girl Overboard

If there’s one problem I have with this book overall, it’s the cover description. Partially for giving out the entire backstory, but mostly for making it out to seem like another cookie-cutter YA rom-com.

Talk about wild misrepresentation. What looks like a fluffy, winter-vacation romance about girl snowboarders is actually a fairly deep and thought-provoking study of a girl learning to stand on her own and embracing her family, warts and all. What I love about Syrah is that she feels so real. I love that she has so many distinct personalities—dutiful, but wants to lash out with her parents; ‘don’t bother me’ at school; even confident and cocky whenever she’s on the slopes, and she still has these moments of fear and show more vulnerability. I liked that she’s so complicated and hard to pin down.

I really do like it in realistic YA (okay, in a lot of YA) where the conflict/plot is all centered around the romance. Syrah does linger on her ex Jared, as well as her convoluted feelings toward her best friend Age, but she doesn’t spend the whole book whining about either one. Any romantic discussion is more focused on Syrah trying to be herself, and whether or not if she necessarily needs someone to fulfill herself. Also, I just like her friendship between herself and Age—I like that they have an actual friendship, rather than just coy flirting and Syrah’s inner dialogue talking about how hot Age is. There’s some contrived drama with Age and their relationship, but I’ll touch on that in a bit.

I love that a lot of the book follows Syrah’s family and her place in it. One of the things that really stands out is that Syrah is the result of a broken home and she’s had to deal with this fact for her whole life. I like that while she doesn’t exactly kiss up to her half-siblings all of the time, Syrah does try to mend fences with them. I especially love Syrah and Grace’s emerging sisterly feelings and that they’ll try to be there for each other. There’s also a nice semi-parallel with Syrah’s mother and her sisters; it’s definitely a book that deals with the healing processes. And I also liked that Syrah wanted to be more than just how her parents were, and finds a way to reconcile with her family name with her own wants and desires.

One of the other things I really liked here was Lillian and her and Syrah’s growing friendship. I loved Lillian; I liked how she cared about her family, how she’s able to stand up for herself, and how she and Syrah slowly begin to open to one another. Not to mention, she’s the first to really spark Syrah’s change. I also like that because of Lillian, Syrah does start to see beyond other people’s facades, including the bitchy mean girls. The only bit I would I have liked to have seen with this (and this is my only other major problem with the book) is that I would have liked some reconciliation between Syrah and Age’s girlfriend Natalia. It just seems weird that she would have this revelation and not try to mend that particular bridge.

Also, I kinda sorta maybe wanted to see more with Syrah and Bao-mu. A part of me doesn’t want to, as so much of the story is focused on Syrah growing up and moving on, but Bao-mu does contribute a lot to the story, so I wanted to see the deeper part of their relationship.

As I said, despite the flirty cover, this is a surprisingly deep and interesting book. It touches on a lot of different issues—family, culture, history, self-esteem—but neither feels like it’s too cloying or simplistic. It’s a fantastic read, and I highly recommend it. show less

it was hard to start; i almost put it down. the writing was really annoying me. there was no flow. verbs were drowning in excess adjectives everywhere. but then, either the author smoothed out or i got engrossed in the story and i finished. a couple of the characters were believable (gratefully, this includes the protagonist), but most were not. the plot itself was a good story about overcoming the obstacles in the route of life, and an encouragement to teens. given the technical difficulties, however, i just don’t see how it will reach to them.

I bought Girl Overboard because I really enjoyed Headley’s latest book, North of Beautiful. The whole snowboarding premise seemed really interesting to me because I tried snowboarding once and I fell about a million times. I’m much better at skiing.

I was a little disappointed, however. For about the first 100 pages or so, I felt like I’d been thrown headlong into Syrah’s life without any explanation, even though there definitely was. I didn’t really feel a strong connection to her love interest, Age, because he was in about three scenes and most of them involved him telling Syrah that he couldn’t see her because he had a girlfriend now. The snowboarding thing also wasn’t as big of a plot point as I thought it would be; show more Syrah goes snowboarding twice in the entire book. I was expecting scenes and scenes of her flying down the mountain or something.

Another problem I had was that the narrative was a little bogged down by all of these ridiculous similes and metaphors. I recognize that is Headley’s writing style, because she did it in North of Beautiful, but it seemed a bit much. For instance, “And just like that, the sky goes blank with blackness, mirroring the what I’m thinking, how I’m feeling.” Or, “A rocket blazes a shrieking path, reaching higher than any of the other fireworks before it explodes, burning a hole in the night just as Jared did through my head and heart.”

There was also the fact that not that much really happened until about page 250 or so, so I was a little bored. The writing is pretty beautiful, but that can only buoy me for so long. When things did start happening, I almost didn’t care anymore because I’d been waiting for them to happen for so long.

One thing I did like, however, was Syrah’s nanny, Bao-Mu. She was the best character in the whole novel, I felt. In the beginning, I thought that she was going to be annoying, because Syrah did often feel a little annoyed with her, but as the story progressed, she wormed her way into my heart. Same with her mother’s family; they were so sweet and family-like that I kind of wished I had something like that. Mentions of all the Chinese food made me want to try some of this stuff, or at least make dumplings like they did (maybe I’ll ask my boss to make me some tonight!).

Overall, I tried to enjoy Girl Overboard, but there was some major flaws that I found with it. show less

Love this one! Syrah is the youngest daughter of Ethan Cheng, famous billionaire businessman. She's got it all: the waterfront mansion, vacation homes around the world, family jet, custom-designed snowboard. All her material possessions make her life glitter to any outsider... but there's a lot of un-glittering mess underneath. Syrah's half-siblings hate her and her mother, her best friend is a guy whose girlfriend is getting jealous and threatening their friendship, and a nasty accident means she won't be going snowboarding in the mountains she loves so much. That's the one place where Syrah feels accepted for who she is and what she can do, instead of what she has and who her father is. Syrah rehabs her mangled knee, learns some show more family secrets, makes a new friend and uses her snowboarding contacts to help a girl with leukemia ... and in the process discovers that there are many ways to find your true value. 7th grade and up. show less

This is one of those books that, though it took me a while to get into the flow of the story, by the end I loved it. Syrah’s conflicts, both internal and external, are revealed slowly, but not in a way that made me want to stop reading. It’s more in the way that you get to know someone over time and then realize that that person has become your best friend. And there were so many things about Syrah that I absolutely adored.
What I liked most about the book is that it involved Syrah re-evaluating her life and realizing what was really most important to her. By doing that she opened herself up to new friendships and passions that would otherwise be undiscovered. It is by discovering herself that she begins to understand the people show more around her, including her parents who have always felt distant. But it’s not an easy process.
Although Syrah undergoes a lot of change from the first page to the last, this isn’t one of those books where everything is resolved neatly and simply. Just as in life, there are loose ends. However, I felt hopeful that she would be able to eventually overcome the obstacles in her way and be even stronger for the fight it took to do it. Her growth over the course of the book proved to me she is more than capable of handling whatever comes her way. show less

The publisher sent this to me as an advance copy several months ago. I was feeling guilty that I hadn't picked it up yet, that I'd waited so long, and really I just wanted to clear off that corner of my desk, so I finally read this.

Syrah was an avid snowboarder until she blew out her knee on the slopes. Now she’s stuck at home, where her wealthy parents don't approve of her life's ambition and don't make any time for her. They criticize her weight gain, trivialize her sport, and they don’t even know about the manga she’s working on. She doesn't get along with her siblings, her (guy) best friend is seeing a girl who hates her, and she's recently had both heartbreak and knee surgery. She understandably takes some time to lick her show more wounds and wallow, but then she accidentally uncovers a family secret, and volunteers with a new friend in a pediatric cancer ward. Can Syrah find a way to use her family's wealth and connections for good and connect with her parents and siblings?

It's good for teen girls to see messages of female strength and athleticism, but this book doesn't put a fresh spin on it. The writing is overwrought and melodramatic; passages where Syrah does finally hit the slopes read flatly, brimming with false enthusiasm and never capturing the energy, speed, and adrenaline of the sport. Characters are only developed insofar as they undergo rapid, personality transformations with little explanation. Syrah’s story of a rich girl rejecting her privilege, only to use it to help cancer patients at the children’s hospital, is a feel-good cliché. show less

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

If you are looking for a rags-to-riches story, don't pick up GIRL OVERBOARD. On the other hand, if you are looking for a story about a rich girl struggling to be a normal, well-adjusted girl, than this one is for you.

Syrah Cheng is the daughter of privilege. Her father, Ethan Cheng, made the cell phone what it is today. Her mother, Betty Cheng, is the queen of charity fundraising, and demands only the best. Unfortunately, all the splendor and wealth surrounding Syrah leave her feeling uncomfortable and unloved.

Syrah's dream is to become a sponsored pro-snowboarder; however, a recent life-threatening accident has sidelined her with a bum knee. Her doctor says she is ready to show more resume normal activities and even some cautious snowboarding, but her globe-trotting parents have forbidden her participation in the only activity that makes her life worthwhile. She fills her days with school and manga drawings of a superheroine snowboarder named Shiraz.

Not being able to snowboard is only the beginning of trouble for Syrah. Her best friend, Age, has a new girlfriend who doesn't believe there is room in their relationship for Syrah. Bao-mu, Syrah's dedicated nanny, has announced that she is leaving to go help her granddaughter with her new baby. And to top it all off, Ethan Cheng has announced his retirement and his intention to move the family to Hong Kong.

There is never a dull moment in GIRL OVERBOARD. Syrah may seem about to give up on her dream, but she finds a way to combine her love of snowboarding with what she discovers are her many other assets, to help a new friend in need, and make her family proud of her. Author Justina Chen Headley shows her readers what truly lies beneath the glittery surface of a girl who has it all, but learns that family, friendship, and love can surprise us all. show less