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My Almost Epic Summer
by
Adele Griffin (Goodreads Author)
Irene's got big dreams: someday she'll own a sun-kissed salon in L.A. where her specialty will be recreating the hairstyles of famous literary heroines. And it's a good thing she has dreams, since reality is harsh. She's just been fired from her mom's beauty salon for her tear-jerking shampooing technique, and is forced to take the only other job she can find: babysitting....more
Hardcover, 170 pages
Published
May 1st 2006
by Putnam Juvenile
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Pretty good YA novel about a 14-year-old's "epic" summer of babysitting. Protagonist Irene is fired from her mom's hair salon (the first chapter is titled "I Am Fired" so I'm not exactly giving anything away by revealing this) and must subsequently work as a babysitter for the rest of the summer. She's dejected by the prospects, but - what's this? - intrigue is afoot! (See Ch. 27, entitled "Intrigue.") Eventually, there's a touch of drama, some cute kids, and a touch of growing up. And the writi...more
1 like · like · see review
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Irene Meets Starla or Drifter Meets Rebel
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Irene is not your normal teenager. You see she has plan to open her own hair style shop in the big city. It's going to take the fashion world by storm and it's going to be called Heroine Hair styles. All the famous female hair styles from books to movies will be on display! It will be a hit! She will be famous!
Well, maybe not as soon as she wants since she got fired from her mom's hair salon after her first week. One small mi...more
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Irene is not your normal teenager. You see she has plan to open her own hair style shop in the big city. It's going to take the fashion world by storm and it's going to be called Heroine Hair styles. All the famous female hair styles from books to movies will be on display! It will be a hit! She will be famous!
Well, maybe not as soon as she wants since she got fired from her mom's hair salon after her first week. One small mi...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I just finished listening to this book. The summer before her freshman year Irene is left alone in her hometown while her friends spend their summers in more exciting places. After getting fired from her mother's beauty shop, she gets a job as a a babysitter, through which she meets Starla, a gorgeous lifeguard, and Drew, Starla's ex and possibly Irene's soulmate. This was a fun and fairly light read with lots of references to reading and literature (which I love).
Irene is a 14-year old teenager who is determined to be a exclusive hair salon owner. She is apparently stuck in her neighborhood,babysitting little kids during vacation. All her friends seem to be having fun in good places, but for her, things aren't going along as she imagined it would be. After being fired by her own mother as a part-time job, due to her mistakes, she goes to babysit Evan and Lainie. They aren't the most naughtiest kids in the world, but compared to her friends, Irene feels d...more
Irene, just about to begin high school, gets fired from her summer job...and it is her mom who fires her. Bummer. Then, she gets a job babysitting Evan and Laine. Bummer. She takes them to beach where she meet a stunningly beautiful lifeguard, Starla. Starla is full of herself, mean, and snobbish and doesn't want to start a friendship with Irene. But, that all changes when Starla's ex-boyfriend, Drew becomes interested in in Irene.
Full of humor and teen-angst, My Almost Epic Summer navigates th...more
Full of humor and teen-angst, My Almost Epic Summer navigates th...more
Adele Griffin has created an incredibly fun and sympathetic heroine who is caught between childhood and the adult world.
Irene is brilliant. All that stands in way of her smarts and rapier wit is her tendency to be in the clouds, dreaming of owning her own beauty salon in glamourous L.A.
Navigating a summer that includes being fired from her mother's salon, and then forced into a babysitting position, life becomes even more chaotic (and cringe worthy) when "frenemy" Starla arrives in her life.
W...more
Irene is brilliant. All that stands in way of her smarts and rapier wit is her tendency to be in the clouds, dreaming of owning her own beauty salon in glamourous L.A.
Navigating a summer that includes being fired from her mother's salon, and then forced into a babysitting position, life becomes even more chaotic (and cringe worthy) when "frenemy" Starla arrives in her life.
W...more
Boring...I picked it up cuz it's a national book award finalist. i don't understand...
Fun read for a summer evening. Irene is working at her mother's hair salon but not focusing on her duties and messes up quite frequently. Her mother has to let her go ... and Irene instead makes her summer money by being a babysitter, all the while keeping a sketchbook of historical hairdos for her dream of owning a salon one day. I liked the character Irene and felt sorry for her not having a single mom who was 100% there for her but it was an enjoyable read and delve into young adult fiction f...more
3.5* Love Adele Griffin's writing style. She makes a nice, breezy read with this. The love interest comes in out of left field, and their isn't a feeling of real force behind the pacing, but the characters are cute and are ones that you can easily spend a few hours enjoying by the pool or at the beach. Our heroine is quirky, a tad clueless, but none the less an intelligent girl that will hold your interest with her wit and sarcasm. It got me right in the mood for summer vacation (which can't com...more
Irene dreams big—but sometimes she dreams at the wrong times! So, fired from her summer job and with her best friend out of town for the duration, Irene is at loose ends, until her friend Judith proposes that she babysit for her. Irene reluctantly takes the job, and that’s why she meets the local Lifeguard, Starla. Irene is very impressed with Starla, and wonders if they could be friends. Then Irene finds out that Starla’s ex-boyfriend is someone she had gone to school with years ago—and he’s ch...more
Review: Irene’s Mom owns a beauty shops, & ends up leaving Irene on her own a lot. Irene fills up much of her time reading and drawing hairstyles of the literary figures she encounters in the books she reads. The summer she is 14, Irene does not accompany her best friend to camp; she must make do babysitting for a couple of active kids. Trying to ditch the heat, Irene takes her charges to Larkin’s Pond where she can’t escape noticing the gorgeous lifeguard: Starla. (Can you tell that is a ma...more
Review taken from School Library Journal:
Avid reader Irene, 14, keeps a sketchbook of famous literary hairdos for her future salon, Heroine Hairstyles, to be located in L.A., about as far from New Jersey as she can get. Things go awry when she's let go three weeks into her summer job at her mother's beauty shop. Forced to take unglamorous work babysitting two fidgety kids, the teen ignores her friends' e-mails (they're on interesting vacations), is impatient with her young charges, and generally...more
Avid reader Irene, 14, keeps a sketchbook of famous literary hairdos for her future salon, Heroine Hairstyles, to be located in L.A., about as far from New Jersey as she can get. Things go awry when she's let go three weeks into her summer job at her mother's beauty shop. Forced to take unglamorous work babysitting two fidgety kids, the teen ignores her friends' e-mails (they're on interesting vacations), is impatient with her young charges, and generally...more
Nov 11, 2012
Jennifer Wardrip
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
trt-posted-reviews
Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com
Irene has a dream--to one day open a beauty salon specializing in the hairstyles of famous book heroines. You know, Great Women in Literature, like Franny Glass, Shug Avery, Janie from Their Eyes Were Watching God. The only problem is, she's just been fired from her own mother's hair salon. Fired. By her own mother. Clearly, this hairstyling business is going to need a bit of work.
But her mother and Judith Prior, owner of a secondhand shop a few doors down fro...more
Irene has a dream--to one day open a beauty salon specializing in the hairstyles of famous book heroines. You know, Great Women in Literature, like Franny Glass, Shug Avery, Janie from Their Eyes Were Watching God. The only problem is, she's just been fired from her own mother's hair salon. Fired. By her own mother. Clearly, this hairstyling business is going to need a bit of work.
But her mother and Judith Prior, owner of a secondhand shop a few doors down fro...more
Irene's got big dreams—someday she'll own a sun-kissed salon in L.A. where her specialty will be recreating the hairstyles of famous literary heroines. And it's a good thing she has dreams, since reality is harsh. She's just been fired from her mom's beauty salon for her tear-jerking shampooing technique, and is forced to take the only other job she can find—babysitting. Now she's stuck at the beach entertaining kids while everyone else is having a glamorous summer.Will she ever get a life?
Then...more
Then...more
I had a fun time reading this book. It certainly surprised me here and there. Irene is very intelligent and a total bookworm full of quotes(mostly Barrett) ready for disposal at any given moment. 'My Almsot Epic Summer' was an enjoyable refreshing book and a breeze to read through. I'll definitely be reading this a few times more.
An interesting read that was not too bad. Cute and fairly comical, the heroine's inability to step up to a couple of scenarios and take charge sound familiar in youth; if not painful to read. Fairly well written I felt the ending was odd, but it was clean.
Easy read. Something you might take to the beach or on the airplane to read. Story about a girl that has big dreams, but not sure about the talent! She realizes that she has to take life in her own hands.
Meh. I probably would've liked this better had I been a teen girl, but I'm beyond that stage of books, so this wasn't that great for me. It was on my list from forever ago, hence I read it.
It's hard to give it a true rating because it's such a nostalgic book for me. It's a fast read, but different and fun. A slice of life kind of book that's actually, well, realistic.
If I were the author of this book, one major change that would have been present is use of better adjectives. INstead of "delicious" and "divine," this author uses "good..." I DON"T LIKE THAT IN A BOOK! THe extremely short chapter in this book were a handy thing, because if you only had a few minutes to read, you could have easily read a chapter or two in that time. For me, the content itself was just every day life, and although I do enjoy that sometimes, I did not read this book in the right m...more
This book was really good. Basically about a junior high girl growing up over the summer and becoming a more responsible young adult. Great read.
Cute but for a younger audience than me.
Mar 12, 2011
Heaven
added it
Good book read it a while ago.
Don't even bother
In this book so far, there is this girl Irene who has just been fired from her mom's salon. When she is fired, she is automatically offered a another job babysitting for someone. for her summer she wanted to boost her salon carrer not babysittng anyone.She decides to take the job because there's nothing else she can do.She can't drive because she has drivers license. In Irene's life many things go on.
A summer of first love and almost-made friends is what is in store for Irene, but she doesn't know that at the start and dreads the idea of having to babysit for 2 months. But because of that, she meets super-beautiful lifeguard, "Starla" and reacquaints herself with "D"--who just happens to be Starla's ex, the one she writes bad poetry about on her blog.
Aug 21, 2008
Katrina
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Teen readers who are looking for something light and fluffly
Shelves:
teen
A total summer beach read. My Almost Epic Summer is a quick, entertaining read that will have you both laughing and cringing at the situations Irene finds herself in. Her interest in Starla/Tara is a little obsessive but if you can get over that it's a decent romance read. releases, this is a great book for summer reading!
I liked reading My Almost Epic Summer by Adele Griffin. Its a realistic fiction that I couldn't keep my eyes off of. It was my favorite book I have read this year.
I think this is a good book to either start the summer or end the summer. I like this book a lot i suggest everyone should read it too
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I love to read, I love to write, and I joined Goodreads as a reader and an author.
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More about Adele Griffin...
You can also find me on twitter: http://twitter.com/adelegriffin
and Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adele-G...
and
http://www.tighterthebook.com
and
http://www.picturethedead.com
and
http://www.thejuliangame.com
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