Dumb Love - Hardcover

Johnson, Kathleen Jeffrie

2.63

51 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1596430621 ISBN 13: 9781596430624

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press, 2005

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What's funnier than true love? Dumb love, that's what. Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson offers an exuberant romp -- somewhere between a screwball comedy of errors and a modern fairy tale.

In the tiny town on Brewerton, the minister needs an assistant for his Loney Hearts advice column, someone with a sympathetic, open heart and a confidential, closed mouth. Who better, Carlotta decides, than a Love Expert like herself. In fact, once Pete, her soon-to-be boyfriend -- he just doesn't know it yet -- gets a look at her, she'll be the syrup on his pancake, the cream in his coffee, the crabcake at his clam bake! All she has to do is get rid of her competition: Bernice, Andrea...and Fate.

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About the Author:

Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson is the author of three highly regarded novels for teens: The Parallel Universe of Liars, selected as an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, and Target and A Fast and Brutal Wing, both selected as ALA Best Books for Young Adults. She lives in Germantown, Maryland

From Booklist:

Gr. 8-11. In a complete reversal from her recent, haunting fantasy, A Fast and Brutal Wing (2004), Johnson's latest is a romantic comedy, peopled with hilarious, wholly unique individuals. In a small Appalachian town, high-schooler Carlotta yearns for Pete, a teen who works at the local garage. Her ploys to win his heart are paralleled in her novel-in-progress, an ever-changing mix of ghost story, romance, thriller, and western. Johnson plays with genres, too, as she embroils Carlotta in slapstick scenes of romantic pursuits, rivalries with classmates, and affectionate, sometimes misguided parenting from her winningly imperfect guardian, her "father-in-heart" if not "father-in-fact." The plot, split between Carlotta's wildly imagined family and romantic schemes, isn't the strength here. What will appeal most are the unforgettable characters and Johnson's southern-tinged prose, which mixes the florid language of romance novels with perfectly timed comedy. An unusual, laugh-out-loud romance with particular appeal to aspiring writers and those who, like Carlotta, are amply proportioned. Gillian Engberg
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