Review: To Be Mona - Kelly Easton

Where I got it: Inter-library Loan
Rating: 2.5 stars
Cover Rating: 2 stars (I don't really like this at all. I don't get why the picture is on the outside of the lockers.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: November 25, 2008
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Page Count: 213 p.

Sage wants to be Mona, she has it all - the looks, the friends, the money. Sage's mom has pretty much been crazy since her dad left them many years ago. Her next door neighbors the Goldburg's have been looking out for her and her mom for about that long. Sage wants the jock, Roger, to be the one who loves her even when Vern Goldburg so openly does. She just wants a better life, with more money and more hope. Told in alternating viewpoints between Sage, Roger, Vern and Vern's friend, Walter this story tells the tale of trying to fit in when maybe being on the outside isn't that bad.

This story was alright. I enjoyed the random hypothetical questions that are interspersed throughout the novel. I think that was the highlight however. The characters were vague and forgettable. It seemed in the beginning of this novel that Mona was this popular snotty girl that Sage envied and wanted to replace. Really Mona seemed like just an ordinary girl, like all the other girls in the school except Sage. Sage was really only different because her mom was wacky and they didn't really have any money. Sage seemed very full of herself. She starts dating Roger and it's evident that he is a real jerk, he's controlling and possessive and never really nice to Sage. He is also really stupid. I'm not sure why their relationship lasted so long because he didn't really have any redeeming qualities. I feel like Sage just wanted him so badly that even when it turned out he wasn't a catch she just kept dating him to prove that she wasn't wrong about him. The other relationships in this story also seem odd and out of place. Maybe people act like this, but I don't feel that they were authentic. This book touched on a few good points about mental illness and domestic abuse, but all in all, this book was a dud. It was a fast read but not a really good one.

First Line:
"Consider yourself a color."

Favorite Line:
"Consuming a diet of Pop-tarts, Twizzlers, and Neco Wafers can alter your sexual orientation and give you bad dreams."