Class of '88: Senior
Class of '88: Seniorby Linda A. Cooney
Five friends. Nick, the golden boy, Celia the beautiful, Sean the thinker, Allie the wild, Meg the brave.Meg and Nick have stayed away from each other for four years. Finally they want to be together... and someone's stopping them. Celia and Allie are trying to be friends again. But they both have a date for the prom - with the same guy. Sean is a BMOC and valedictorian, yet he still wants revenge for freshman year.In high school they lost some hopes, some dreams, some fears. Now they have to hold on to the one thing they've got left - each other. (transcribed from back of book)
Dude. I can assure you I did not buy this book because of the summary on the back. How awful is that to stomach? Yeech. I bought it of course, because it's the final book in the series. Closure! And it's SENIOR YEAR! Which means SENIOR PROM! *squeeeeeeeeeeee*Yeah.There is so much to say about this book, much of it is how cheesy the story is. Ok, so I never did expect this series to be unpredictable and original. I am fairly certain I remember rolling my eyes at 12 almost as much as I did at 34. I do still relate to the underdogs and their wanting to fit in with the rest of the crowd, though it's not as passionate and emotional as it was then. I was different. I was the Allie in real life. I recall crying when Allie tells her father she wants to study at Theatre college rather than going to real university. I remember crying when Allie and Celia become friends again (even though I think Celia is a moron). I remember not really caring when Meg and Nick finally admitted they loved each other (so not a spoiler since it's lead up to pretty heavily from Freshman year). I remember feeling slightly vindicated when Sean gets a job at the, er, stereo/tech shop and realizes the guy that taped him to the flagpole his Freshman year is the janitor.I liked Brooke. I don't think I ever really paid much attention to her when I first read the books but she sticks out now as one of my favourite characters even though she's not one of the original five friends.At one point I thought I was reading a Lisa Mantchev book:
Allie lifted her paperback copy of Romeo and Juliet. "Ever heard of it?""Very funny." He inched closer. "You know, you remind me of Juliet.""Must be my eyes like stars." She crossed her eyes and giggled again. "Or my star-crossed eyes."
Ha ha! I never noticed that line before, and of course that was not one of the Shakespeare plays I covered in high school.Speaking of that scene. I had to love/hate Derek, the dumbass University student that Celia was dating. They describe him has having a light blonde mustache, wearing a tweed jacket with leather elbow patches and - get this - smoking a pipe! A PIPE! Even when I was 12 I thought he sounded like a loser and was trying way to hard to be a "cool" university student. (I have never liked facial hair. I don't like any body hair to be honest, on your head and eye brows are ok, but other than that? Why the hell do we have so much hair? Ick! Ew! Don't get me started!)Derek wants to be a poet and he writes crap poetry and he wants to impress his potential Frat brothers (I have never gotten the concept of Fraternities or Sororities either). Celia is dating him because she's tired of the immature high school scene and she thinks she'll make an impression by bringing University Stud to her senior prom. Lame.Of course then Derek meets Allie outside of her father's classroom at the university and he thinks she's a university student and he hits on her, realizes she's still in high school and is miffed when she doesn't return his attention. He also thinks that artsy Allie is just what he needs to help is poetry career! So he dumps Celia and asks Allie to the prom with her tickets! Jerk.He was the lamest character ever, and it was meant to be that way. I have to laugh at how pathetic he is and sounds.In the end all 5 friends spend one last night in the tree house they used to spend all their time in and think about how they have each other and that's all that matters as they all go off on different college paths.And now? There's a Class of '89, people! Just waiting for their stories to be heard! Of course I am missing the Sophomore year of that series and I can't seem to find it online. If I see it on Bookmooch people never send to Canada. If I see it on eBay it's like $14 to ship! What the hell!? Grr. I need that Sophomore book! I cannot read the next series without it.Fun Fact!: Linda A. Cooney is actually TWO people! Linda Alper and Kevin Cooney. Tricky, eh? I just learned that while rereading this series.Class of ’88