Miss Fortune Cookie by Lauren Bjorkman

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers…the place to be when you’re looking for your fortune, as long as it’s bookish that is.  ^_^

So, we’re still exploring the realm of books-that-I’ve-read-and-still-need-to-review…I know, I KNOW, bad reader; don’t worry, I’ve berated myself enough for the both of us.  Anywho…time to step back through the literary time line and visit a title that might be aimed at the Young Adult crowd but I wouldn’t be surprised to find it in the hands of an older reader either.  How come?  Well, it deals with dealing in sage advice presented in a virtual fortune cookie type package…and what happens when such advice hits too close to home.  Ready to make this book’s acquaintance?  *cracks open fortune cookie*  “You will share an adventure between the pages with many, on your life path.”  Sounds like a YES to me.  Today’s book of choice is…

Miss Fortune Cookie

By

Lauren Bjorkman

9780805089516

Henry Holt and Company, LLC

About the book…

A teenage girl with a secret advice blog finds herself in need of advice.

Meet Erin.  Smart student, great daughter, better friend.  Secretly the mastermind behind the popular advice blog Miss Fortune Cookie.  Totally unaware that her carefully constructed life is about to get crazy.

It all begins when her ex-best-friend sends a letter to her blog – and then acts on her advice.  Erin’s efforts to undo the mess plunge her into adventure, minor felonies, and possibly her very first romance.

What’s a likely fortune for someone no longer completely in control of her fate?  Hopefully nothing like…”You will become a crispy noodle in the salad of life.”

Don’t let the cool-ish cover fool you…it’s not all sweetened folded cookies and Twitter-count-or-less messages to both inspire and boggle the mind; it’s also a touching read. 

Erin is the star player in our “dinner theater” tonight and her life is about to go from comfy cozy to all-shook-up.  Grant it, it’s about that time seeing as the days of college applications and figuring out what you want to do with your life are just around the corner, but still, having to deal with friendship restructures when that support system is what you’ve depended on, first go’s at love, and parental judging whether warranted or not, on top of it all, can send any girl spinning off their axis.  For the most part, she handles it well and her outlet for dosing out her friendly advice (as the “voice” of Miss Fortune Cookie) provides for many smiles as well as frets…it’s in the frets though that things get interesting.  You ever want to give your two cents to your best buds but then realize, perhaps it’s something that you shouldn’t be nosing into?  Yeah…well Erin steps right in it while wearing her “Miss Fortune” persona and things go from sketchy to OMG-how-can-I-fix-this-without-ruining-my-friends-carefully-constructed-life-and-blowing-my-cover.  Yeah…like I said, interesting times ahead for all. 

I definitely liked the way the characters were portrayed; all their similarities and differences, ups and downs, changes made for both better and perhaps-not-so-much, felt real.  It made you see both the good and the bad side of dishing out advice and to never undertake it just willy nilly because no matter how much you think you understand a situation, if you’re not inside of the events unfolding, you are only affected SO much…and that can create waves not so easily overcome.  The way the story is steeped in multiple cultures also gives you a new look at how the age old institution of higher education is viewed…some as a stepping stone, others as a must and still others who couldn’t care less.  Good stuff.  Oh!  Speaking of “good stuff”, there are some things portrayed within the book, like the hate picketing balanced with a showing for love, that were inspired by TRUE events!  Pretty cool, right?  To check out actual footage from the 2010 protest and perhaps to be inspired to take a stand of your own, click on over to YouTube.

In closing, a book that leaves room for interpretation much like the fortunes in those slightly sweetened little cookies you get at holidays or at your favorite Chinese restaurant.  You’d be surprised how much can be boiled down to one short line of wisdom…just remember to take it with a grain of salt.  ARC for review courtesy of the fab folks at Henry Holt and Company, LLC Books for Young Readers, an imprint of MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title as well as their growing catalog, be sure to stop by their official site, friend them on Facebook, or follow along on Twitter.

Until next time…happy reading!