Just Deal

Unfabulous

by Robin Wasserman (Adapter), Fiona Simpson (Editor)

It's all about girl angst . . . Unfabulous rocks the TeeNick block.

Which would you rather do: fall in love or go to a funeral? What about both at once? Talk about unfabulous!

Big changes are coming Addie Singer's way, and her life will never be the same. Luckily, she has her guitar, her dog, and her two best friends to help her through.

But sometimes you have to be a good friend to keep a good friend. When things start getting rockier at Rocky Road Middle School, will Addie have to deal on her own?

112 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2006

About the author

Robin Wasserman is the author of the novels MOTHER DAUGHTER WIDOW WIFE (June 2020) and GIRLS ON FIRE. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Tin House, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and several short story anthologies. A recent MacDowell Colony fellow, she is also the New York Times bestselling author of more than ten novels for young adults and teaches in the low-residency MFA program at Southern New Hampshire University.

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was in high school, I'd heard about the show Unfabulous, but I was too enamored with Hilary Duff, Christy Carlson Romano, Anneliese van der Pol, and Ashley Tisdale to care. Some time later, I bought the first season--or was it the first volume?--of Addie Singer's show on iTunes...and was rather disappointed with it; it felt like a poor man's Lizzie McGuire. However, I have enjoyed Emma Roberts' performances in other productions, ranging from Nancy Drew to a Fiat commercial.

This past weekend, I went to a garage sale that had so many Nickelodeon and Disney Channel tie-in novels, it wasn't even funny. The people there said that their little sister never outgrew her love for such entertainment...and I could say the same thing; despite discovering everything from Star Trek to superhero cartoons to The Mary Tyler Moore Show in my adult years, the shows I watched when I was a kid--particularly the ones from my high school years--still have a hold on me to this day.

Upon starting this book, I expected the writing to be mediocre at best; kiddie television novelizations aren't known for spectacular wordsmithing. Imagine my surprise when, not only was it told from Addie's personal perspective, it had much more depth and realness to it than pretty much any Lizzie McGuire book.

Maybe I was wrong about the show Unfabulous; after reading this, I think I'm going to seek it out on either Apple TV or Paramount Plus, and give it a second chance. After all, I didn't like Hilary Duff's iconic sitcom the first time I saw it, either...and all my friends know that my opinion did a complete one-eighty; I wasn't known as the Disney Channel guy in high school for nothing.

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe this was probably two middle school stories combined into one narrative. Regardless, it was a very cute account of a girl learning to deal with the death of a relative while also figuring out how to balance friendship, romance, and family issues.