CHARMED THIRDS by Megan McCafferty
Category: Contemporary
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 4/11/06
Publisher: Crown
Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce
Rating: 5 Stars
CHARMED THIRDS covers the college years of Jessica Darling, a character previously introduced in Megan McCafferty's
novels SLOPPY FIRSTS and SECOND HELPINGS. I can't compare it to the other two, as I haven't read them, but I can
say that this is a fantastic book!
Jessica has a wonderfully funny, original voice that resonates throughout her journals, kept over her breaks from going to
school at Columbia. Jessica is just a girl from New Jersey who made it into Columbia, and her life, with all its trials and
triumphs, seems very real. She's struggling to hold on to her old friends while making new ones at school, trying to survive in
the big city of New York, and working to earn money for school.
There's not a real overall plot arc, unless you want to say it's Jessica's relationship with her boyfriend, Marcus Flutie. Marcus
has gone across the country to California to attend a Buddhist college, and Jessica misses him like crazy. Jessica and Marcus
reminded me a lot of another fictional couple, CC and Shrimp from Rachel Cohn's books GINGERBREAD, SHRIMP, and
CUPCAKE. In both couples, the guy is an offbeat and untraditional hippie in California (and both explore Buddhism!), and
the girl is living in New York and deciding if her life should be about her or about the guy. Both Marcus and Shrimp have older
brothers, too. There are quite a lot of parallels! Readers who enjoy Rachel Cohn's books are sure to like CHARMED
THIRDS as well.
The brilliance of McCafferty's novel does not lie in what goes on (though Jessica's internship at the magazine True is just one
of many interesting and amusing experiences she has!), but in the strength of her characters. All of the characters are very real,
and very interesting. Add that to Megan McCafferty's excellent writing, and you've got a wonderful book! I'll certainly be
looking up the first two books as well--it was that good!
Charmed Thirds
by Megan McCafferty