Carpe Diem
by Autumn CornwellSign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
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Read in January, 2008
Vassar (her mother always wanted to go to Vassar, and has now transferred that goal onto her daughter~figuring with the proper planning and that name, how could they possibly reject her???) Spore, sixteen, has her life plan set up through graduate school (as well as few life goals beyond that: (marrying a 6’5” blond surgeon {she’d settle for a judge} by age 25 {for love}; having three children by age 35 {two girls one boy}; publish the definitive book {subject as yet undecided} by age 37; ...more
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Reviewed by Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com
With a name like Vassar, you would assume that the person would have her entire life planned out. And you would be absolutely correct. With the help of her goal-oriented parents, who have predicted which Ivy League school their daughter will attend by naming her after it, Vassar Spore has a plan, both in school and out, that will set her for life.
From the A(A)P classes to having a criteria to choosing her bes...more
With a name like Vassar, you would assume that the person would have her entire life planned out. And you would be absolutely correct. With the help of her goal-oriented parents, who have predicted which Ivy League school their daughter will attend by naming her after it, Vassar Spore has a plan, both in school and out, that will set her for life.
From the A(A)P classes to having a criteria to choosing her bes...more
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Read in August, 2007
Vassar Spore's parents named her after one of the most prestigious women's colleges in the country. Unsurprisingly, she grows up a goal-oriented perfectionist intent on winning a Pulitzer Prize and marrying an MIT grad. In steps Vassar's bohemian grandma who demands she spend the summer with her backpacking across Southeast Asia. This plot line could have easily slipped into the predictable too-serious-girl finds there's more to life than book learning...and even though I did predict one key sur...more
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Read in January, 2008
SPOILER AHEAD but it deserves it. I was intrigued by this book because the main character spends most of it in Southeast Asia, and that looked worth reading. I was immediately put off in the first or second chapter when Vassar describes her dad as "Poor Dad, not only is he adopted but..." as if being adopted is some awful state and one should be ashamed of it. Vassar is then sent to Southeast Asia because her "grandmother" blackmails her parents into allowing it, thus intr...more
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Read in April, 2008
The beginning of Carpe Diem was a bit slow because Vassar's (named after a college) parents were such one-dimensional over controllers. Once she finally got away from them, though, it became a lot more interesting and funny.
I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot better if I hadn't read Red Glass by Laura Resau kind of recently. Carpe Diem was just as good, but I got sort of attached to Red Glass a...more
I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot better if I hadn't read Red Glass by Laura Resau kind of recently. Carpe Diem was just as good, but I got sort of attached to Red Glass a...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
young adults
This young adult novel kept this old adult captivated. Vassar Spore is an overachieving sophomore who has her summer planned with AP classes to keep her on her fast-track and assure that her future holds valedictorian honors as well as a spot in a prestigious women's college. Her parents named her Vassar for that very reason. However, a phone call from a mysterious, eccentric relative with an invitation to travel to Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos sets an entirely different kind of summer adventure ...more
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This book is so funny. Every page seems to have at least one thing to laugh about. But unlike most ridiculous teenage humors it really has a good theme. Vassar, the girl who is named after a prestigious college is trying to acheive a 5.3 or some ridiculously high GPA. Then in steps her grandma who makes her go on a trip with her in SE Asia for the entire summer. Suddenly the 5.3 isn't as attainable and she is forced to write a novel to earn AP-AP English credit. Her trip makes her realize that h...more
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Read in April, 2008
Overachiever high school student Vassar Spore has always had her life planned out for her: get a 5.3 grade average and get into Vassar College. She's named for it, after all. But then her bohemian traveling artist grandma, Gertrude, sends her plane tickets to southeast Asia, and blackmails Vassar into traveling with her to the remote jungle. How will she survive a summer with a goofy grandmother she's never met? Who refuses to make any PLANS? And how will she ever be valedictorian if she can't s...more
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Cornwell's novel about a typical high-school overachiever whose parents are blackmailed into sending her away to Southeast Asia for the summer with her free-spirited artist grandmother is a very funny, cute, and engaging one. As Vassar (named for the college her mother hopes she'll attend) embarks on her adventures, she meets an Asian cowboy, bonds with the grandmother she's never met, and attempts to solve the big family secret (which I accidentally saw while putting my bookmark into a back pag...more
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Vassar has everything on track with her life. Her mother is a life coach and has spent the whole of Vassar's life being her personal life coach. She has a few friends, and grand plans for her last 2 years of high school that will ensure her entry into the college Vassar. That is until her grandmother calls and blackmails her parents into sending her to join her grandmother on a tour of southern Asia. This change of plans throws Vassar for a loop and she learns more about herself and her family t...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
Teenagers
This book is so great! It talks about an average girl trying to go with the flow and to LIM (Live in the moment). She struggles though out the novel by trying to find out a big secret from her grandma and parents, getting validictorian with a 5.3 GPA (the new 4.0), writing a novel, dealling with Hanks, reliving her mom of stress about her being in Southeast Asia, and keeping everything sanitary. This book is wonderful and I'd deffenitly recomend it for anyone.
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
Young Adult- Girls
Sixteen year old Vassar Spore is so goal oriented that she has her entire life planned out for herself. Out of the blue, her very eccentric grandmother decides that she and Vassar will soend the summer traveling through Southeast Asia, and her parents amazingly allow her to go, but only to protect the Big Secret. This book is a page turner. It is very fast paced, never boring, adventure filled with teen romance, humor and mystery.
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Read in September, 2008
Vassar Spore, a sixteen-year old on the fast-track to success is sideswiped by a forced trip to Southeast Asia, backpacking with a grandmother she's never met. Although the beginning of the novel was a bit too TOO much, by the end, I felt a kinship with both Vassar as well as Autumn Cornwell, the author. This was a well-crafted, original, and enjoyable novel.
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recommends it for:
EVERYONE!!!!
This rocks! Its about a girl that travels to different foreign countries. As she goes she writes a story about what is happening to her. Before she goes traveling she is a very "perfect" child, she has her half hour of positive thinking in the morning and stuff like that, but when she goes on the trip she learns alot and matures.
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Read in May, 2008
This was a nice, funny coming-of-age book for a teenage girl. I loved the setting (Southeast Asia) and the great descriptions the author gave of the perils and conquests by the main character, Vassar. Oddly enough, it made me question whether or not I am indeed Living In The Moment!
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Read in November, 2007
The most purely fun book I've read since middle school. It's a young-adult book, sure, but it is also the definition of pleasure reading. It reminded me of all the happy, adventurous, uncomplicated pleasures the world contains. And it made me even more excited to travel in Asia!
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recommends it for:
Ages 11 and up
Ok, I found it impossible to finish this book. I really did not enjoy it at all! It was cheesy, not to mention badly written. Sorry, Megan, this one is absolutely not for me.
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1 comments
I loved this book. It's the story of an overachiever 16 year old, who has her whole life planned out. However, her world traveling artist grandma blackmails her parents into sending her to Asia for the summer. The book is funny, the setting is unique. It was a fun read.
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
Tara/Everyone
Great Teen Book. Same style as "13 Little Blue Envelopes". About a obsessive planner whose parents have planned her whole life out for her. Then her grandmother blackmails her parents and makes her spend the summer in Cambodia. It is great so far.
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This book is about a girl (Vassar) who is going to be a senior in high school. Her grandmother invites he to Southeast Asia, and Vassar learns many life lessons. A witty and inspiring read. I love the surprising twist at the end!
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