Second Helpings Review

Jessica’s senior year is not off to good start. She had planned to spend the summer time at SPECIAL (a free summer enrichment program in creative writing and other arts) as a way of preparing herself for college by immersing herself in dorm life and becoming a new version of her. Unfortunately, her newfound old new again Bridget came along thus keeping her trapped as a obnoxious virgin and not too cool cosmopolitan elite as she wanted to be. Also, she stuck out like a sore thumb in her creative writing class.

But her time in New York did give her some new insight, she is shallow but she has potential, and if she went to Columbia maybe she’ll be able to shed her small-town ignorance and reach her destiny.

So Jessica Darling returns to her last year in Pineville a little wiser and much mroe neurotic as she begins to obsess over her chances of getting into Columbia. And her resolutions to be more cheerful and not think of The One Who Shall Not Be Named-like all good resolutions that falls apart by the first week.

Let’s get to the juicy stuff like Jessica and Marcus. On the outs since Marcus revealed that his initial intentions was to challenge himself to get into the class braniac’s pants, he still fucks with her mind with his extreme nonchalance, accepting her boundaries, charming her grandmother, and giving incidenary hints that he still cares for her. Of course, Jessica can’t quite accept what’s in front of her as anything but another of Marcus’ games. He is the Game Master after all, and all her attempts to outmanuever him only get herself in more hot water like when she pretends to accepts his chivalrous actions in pushing his best friend, Len onto her.

While she initially dates Len to get back at Marcus, she starts to develope feelings for her former valedictorian nemesis. At least, she’s trying to. On paper, they make sense in holding intellectual pursuits over teen triviliaties, indepdence over conformity, anywhere else over Pineville.

But Len is also incredibly boring. In a sweet, geeky way, but boring. He’s a good person but his narrow-minded ideals, his closeness with his mother and his inability to stop rambling about statistics and logical approaches does numb the libido. Even though Jessica thinks that’s what she wants, reality sucks.

That mantra can apply to Pineville senior year as a whole where Jessica must still contend with the Clueless Two spreading their frenemy drama across the school, her sister gets pregnant, the adminstration pulling her editorials from the school paper, and a new tabloid email rag, The Pineville Low that everyone thinks Jessica wrote!

It does suck, but it’s fun to read anyway. Jessica has an awful habit in getting into the worst situations like trying to convince Bridget not to audition for Bumbblegum Bimbos or hitting on her gay creative writing teacher (it’s always gay! She has an awful gaydar) and of course, most situations with Marcus Flutie. The book even got a big laugh out of me when she assumes Len’s nervousness over his upcoming performance is his band performance, not his sexual one.

McCafferty’s levity is a needed antidote as she continues to honestly show the obnoxious and the ugly of teen life like when 9/11 happens. Jessica admits her world changed and she’s scared for her future, but she also feels incredibly shallow and stupid for how she feels compared to the bigger picture in the world. Also for making jokes and how normal everyone at school is acting despite the tragic event. That even though it was catastrophic, it still feels like her little world will continue because nothing really touches their sheltered suburban lives. Which is true even now as big events pop up on media and social screens yet we’ve become so desensitized to scrolling past or making memes.

Same with the patrotic vs liberal divide of which Jessica was firmly on the latter side, enthused with the idea of anarchy and fighting all the systems of oppression (the fact that her former gay crush of her dreams personally invited to join the group if she went to Columbia is another motivating factor). But she quickly becomes disillusioned with their outrage over everything and hivemind that is it’s own conformity. Basically, they’re hypocrites with a cause and microphone and some things just don’t change.

Jessica does change a little. Just as last book dealt with her judgyness, she continues to peel back the layers of blindness to herself and others. She’s not as quick to judge, but she still. She limits people and most of all, herself by the labels she put on them. She cannot see herself as the powerful, badass, too cool alter ego of Hycinth’s Bumblegum Bimbos book because has always seen herself as obnoxious and opinionated. She doesn’t see the betrayal brewing between her and Len because she still sees him as the nerd who can’t get laid instead of a wannabe rockstar. She can’t see that Bridget is her friend because she’s not Hope.

So Jessica’s revelations to all this is painful as it can be despite her resolutions because despite, Jessica’s independent streak she does fall prey to the trappings of normalcy even if she doesn’t realize it at the time. And bitterly regrets losing her own values.

But at the end of the day, all these choices lead up to exactly where she needs to be. Her choices and their consequences, bad and good are all her own and we all affect each other’s lives, indirectly or directly so it’d be good to remember that. To try to be nicer but still give hard truths when necessary, not to slam them but to bring up points that they can improve (even if it’s as a questionable arguement when dealing with assholes and morons). That it is easy to be unhappy, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to be happy. Being critical of everything and your low expectations is realistic, but it’s not very brave as trying every day to go after something you enjoy instead of sticking with something you hate. I’m paraphrasing Jessica’s salutorian speech here which was a meaningful send up to her high school years and such a great example of her growth.

Another worthy book in the series. Is it possible that they’ll all be five stars? Let’s find out tomorrow.

5 stars.