Confessions of a Serial Kisser

Evangeline Bianca Logan wants her crimson kiss after reading a book she found in her mom's room called The Crimson Kiss. She thinks this will be easy, so she basically starts kissing random boys, hoping they'll be her crimson kiss. What Evangeline didn't expect was all the drama that comes with kissing and boys. Confessions of a Serial Kisser is a seriously fast read, and it's really enjoyable. All Evangeline wants is to feel the passion from a kiss. Like a lot of people, she doesn't think things through and doesn't realize bad things can happen even when you have good intentions.

This book was lighthearted and fun to read. It was also, if you look a little deeper, very true to form about a teen acting out due to her father's affair and separation from her mother. Her anger was justifiable and the author did a great job of little by little getting to acceptance and forgiveness, based on events that happened in Evangeline's life. I really liked it and would definitely recommend it.

Sixteen-year-old Evangeline Logan is a serial kisser. She kisses jocks, nerds, even strangers in line at Starbucks, hoping that one of them will be the possessor of a "crimson kiss." But kissing real boys is nothing like the descriptions she reads in romance novels. After tongue-thrusters, sloppy ear-lickers, and kissers who miss her mouth entirely, Evangeline wonders if she will ever find the perfect kiss. It all starts with a romance novel she finds hidden beneath her mother's bed. Reading about the intense relationship between the characters in the novel and the spine-tingling, knee-weakening kisses they share, Evangeline is determined to make her fantasy of the perfect kiss come true. Her first kiss is with high school hottie Robbie Marshall. Evangeline gives herself a makeover to catch his attention. It works too well. Robbie shoves his tongue down her throat, making her the target of his ex-girlfriend's ire. Evangeline is disgusted. "Mouth to mouth with a mackerel" is not her idea of the perfect kiss. Realizing that "extreme hotness" does not necessarily guarantee a good kiss, Evangeline adjusts her approach and sets her targets on Justin Rodriguez. He's nice, cute, and the kind of guy who's so romantic he spent a year pining over another girl. She arranges for a rendezvous at the gazebo in the park. Unfortunately, Justin brings his friends. He also is allergic to the flowers in the park and the musky scent of the perfume Evangeline has borrowed from her mother. Evangeline quickly develops a reputation for her kissing antics. Her name and phone number are markered over the urinals in the boys' bathroom. Girls threaten to beat her up at school. But she stands to lose more than her reputation. When she accidentally kisses her best friend's crush, her serial kissing puts her in danger of losing her best friend. Behind the encyclopedic descriptions of bad kissing, CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL KISSER is a subtle portrayal of the ways kissing is not always about kissing. Evangeline's experiments to redefine and empower herself through her sexuality are a reaction to her parents' divorce. Her escape into the fantasy world of romance novels threatens her ability to have real relationships with real boys. Fortunately, Evangeline's world is filled with people who care about her and offer her safe havens amidst the turmoil of her serial kissing. Her best friend gives her a home to go to when her own family is falling apart. The owner of a music shop she frequents introduces her to the women of rock 'n roll and lets her explore alternate modes of expression with her arms wrapped around a Fender Stratocaster guitar. She even ends up with her own knight errant who is willing to let himself get suspended from school in order to protect her reputation. Author Wendelin Van Draanen brings her trademark honesty and humor to CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL KISSER. She weaves mature themes throughout her book without moralizing, violating a PG rating, or losing a

Imagine how life might change if you were cleaning under your mother's bed and discovered her stash of steamy romance novels and her latest self-help book. That is just what happens to Evangeline Logan. Evangeline can sort of understand the presence of this collection of reading material since her father recently divorced her mother in favor of another love interest. Forgiving her father is something Evangeline has not even considered. She has watched the hell her mother has gone through and wants nothing more than to move on. Normally, Evangeline wouldn't be interested in reading trashy novels, but one caught her eye and promptly changed her life. Now Evangeline is in search of "the crimson kiss." The way it is so romantically described, she knows her life will not be complete until she experiences it. The problem starts when Evangeline begins feeling the need to kiss everyone. The fascination with finding this wonderful kiss leads her into some pretty horrible kissing situations. There are kisses with way too much pressure, kisses with more than enough moisture, and kisses that totally miss their mark. For Evangeline, this kissing experiment seems like a bit of fun, but when she mistakenly kisses her best friend's crush, she realizes that things have gotten terribly out of control. Wendelin Van Draanen, author of SWEAR TO HOWDY and FLIPPED, will have readers laughing aloud when they read about Evangeline. But CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL KISSER goes farther than kissing and telling; it offers a serious side as Evangeline learns how to handle what life has thrown at her. Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"