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Book Review of My Big Nose & Other Natural Disasters

My Big Nose & Other Natural Disasters
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Reviewed by Grandma Bev for TeensReadToo.com

Jory Michaels is going to transform herself before school starts. This is going to be the Summer of Passion; the summer before senior year.

The big obstacle to making it perfect, of course, is her nose. Jory is obsessed about her big nose...she's just sure that the key to making her life perfect is getting it fixed. She plans to earn enough money for a nose job, then she will be one of the popular kids, and maybe attract the guy she has a mad crush on.

Everyone around Jory seems perfect. Her little brother, Finn, is a soccer star who managed to score a date to the senior prom when he was still a freshman. Her mom is perfectly proportioned and does everything right. Her dad is a workaholic and a great guy, and all her friends seem to know where they are going in life.

Jory finds a job delivering wedding cakes, and, oh boy....the van is a stick shift. Never mind that...she can learn quickly...she is sure that the stick shift and parallel parking will be a snap to figure out. But Jory is accident-prone and her hilarious escapades keep the action going.

Then, when her best friend begins hanging out with the guy that Jory has a crush on, emotions shift into high gear. Nothing turns out the way Jory plans.

MY BIG NOSE AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS is about learning to improve what you can and accept what you can't change, while still broadening your horizons. It's told with a great sense of humor, is a bit predictable, but still great fun. Teen girls will see themselves in Jory's desire to be prettier than she perceives herself. The characters are unique and likable, the dialogue witty and fresh, there is plenty of action to keep even reluctant readers interested, and it rushes to a very satisfying ending.