Something's Rotten in the State of Maryland

I found this book to be absolutely delightful. It had the perfectly blend of humor, romantic tension, and drama. It tells the story of Marie Valpacchio --- a typically lazy girl who happens to write a modern version of Shakespear's 'Hamlet' for an english assignment --- and ends up helping put it on stage for real! The romantic male lead is the student director, Simon --- tall, dark, handsome...and arrogant as anything. Sparks certainly fly between the two --- dangerous ones! They're ready to KILL each other. Until suddenly they realize that their relationship is not one of hatred, but of love. This book was absolutely charming. I loved the characters. The plotline was tight (which is rare for a teen romance novel) and had a very nice flow to it. It's told in first-person, present-tense, which is extremely rare, but Laura Sonnenmark makes it work well. The story was well-thought-out and superbly written. I'm in my mid-twenties and I STILL enjoy reading it.

This book really appealed to me because I'm into acting, but I would recommend it for anyone. It has a happy ending, but the whole book isn't all happy-go-lucky, as is the case in other young adult books. There is romance, but also some sadness, and I think there is a good balance of comedy and seriousness. I've read this book SO many times and I recommend it to anyone who loves, or even likes, to read!

As a 13 year old girl I read this book, it made me want to join the theatre... I am now 21 years old with a BA in Theatre (much to my parent's dismay)! Whenever I wonder just why I am involved in this crazy business I open up this book and re-read it. No other book has ever expressed the essence of theatre clearer... its COMMUNITY... and so I applaud this book (it's what we live for anyway!)... : )

This book is a hilarious story of high school life. It shows, although sometimes a little exaggeratedly, how cliques affect teenage America. You meet many fairly believable characters, from lazy Marie to Simon of many moods to intelligent Tina. It also shows how putting on a play gets you into more than you expect as Simon struggles to direct an adaptation of Hamlet that Marie writes. For anyone who remembers or thinks of school as a life of exclusion from others because of different "groups." And the title is true.