A Match Made in High School

A Match Made in High School
by Kristin Walker

A MATCH MADE IN HIGH SCHOOL by

Category:

Contemporary

Age Recommendation:

Grades 9+

Release Date: 2/4/10

Publisher: Razorbill

Reviewed by:

Rating:

5 Stars

Many people have heard of the classes that require students to handle an egg or a sack of flour to practice good

parenting skills. But a year-long mandatory Marriage Ed course? Not so much.

Fiona is having the worst start to her senior year possible. And when the seniors are informed that the principal is

initiating a mandatory Marriage Ed course to graduate, Fiona is shell-shocked. Well, if she can land her long-time

crush, Gabe, as her “husband,” it might not be so bad. But to top off the horrible start, she lands none other than

Todd Harding, “the” biggest jerk of the school, at least as far as Fiona is concerned. And Gabe winds up with

none other than Todd’s cheerleader co-captain girlfriend, Amanda.

Fiona and Todd are at odds throughout the course. Fiona picks babysitting as their “real life” job and in

retaliation, Todd requires Fiona to participate in cheerleading. At least Fiona’s best friend, Marcie, lands a nice

guy for her partner, Johnny Mercer. And Johnny goes so far as to help Fiona in her pranks against Todd. But

when Fiona goes too far, Marcie yells at

her

for being selfish,

then gives her

the cold shoulder.

When Fiona’s mom gets into crusade mode against the school and the Marriage Ed course, Fiona figures things

can’t get any worse. But life can take a surprising twist and Fiona is startled by various revelations.

For a book that was originally due for release in May of 2009, I was a bit worried that there was a reason for the

delay in publication. Thankfully, the worry in delay was unfounded. Though I don’t know the reason for the

postponement, it was well worth the wait. Ms. Walker has written an entertaining and creative look at high

school. She brilliantly wove a story that made the reader cheer for the wrong people at the beginning and watch

as the characters evolved throughout the course of the fall semester. Ms. Walker makes the reader want to hate

Todd from the beginning, but the sparring between Todd and Fiona is feisty and amusing.

I found myself chuckling throughout the story and rooting for the underdogs the whole way through. I’m just

thankful that my high school didn’t have a mandatory Marriage Ed class! I know I wouldn’t have had quite the

fun that Fiona and gang had!