16-year-old wallflower, Chelsea Martin, gets a radical makeover from her soon to be step mom, echoing, What Not to Wear and Cinderella. When a cross country move, and some cognitive coaching on self-esteem building, are added into the mix, Chelsea receives a radically different reaction in her new home. Boys flocked to this smoking hot babe like bees to honey. But this brings a whole new set of problems, the girls are jealous and she has trouble connecting—and most boys only seem to want one thing . . . Worse, the seemingly sincere and godly boys seem repelled by her.
With The Jerk Magnet, Melody Carlson delves into another facet of the complex world of high school romance. The heroine morphs from plain, past pretty to provocative. But along the way, she rediscovers faith, learns some lessons, settles upon pretty and tries to figure out high school romance. The author gives an accurate representation of how teen guys think, and the “social experiment was interesting.” However, the heroine’s romantic resolution was nebulous when a commitment to friendship only, rather then indulging in romantic relationships could have saved the characters a lot of pain.
Age Range: 11 and up
