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Awkward (Smith High Book 1) Kindle Edition

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 101 ratings

I'm Mackenzie Wellesley, and I've spent my life avoiding the spotlight. But that was four million hits ago. . .

Blame it on that grade school ballet recital, when I tripped and pulled the curtain down, only to reveal my father kissing my dance instructor. At Smith High, I'm doing a pretty good job of being the awkward freshman people only notice when they need help with homework. Until I send a burly football player flying with my massive backpack, and make a disastrous--not to mention unwelcome--attempt at CPR. Just when I think it's time for home schooling, the whole fiasco explodes on Youtube. And then the strangest thing happens. Suddenly, I'm the latest sensation, sucked into a whirlwind of rock stars, paparazzi, and free designer clothes. I even catch the eye of the most popular guy at school. That's when life gets really interesting. . ..

"Fans of Meg Cabot will find Marni's voice equally charming and endearing."--Julie Kagawa, New York Times bestselling author

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Bates keeps her prose light, always focusing on the comedy as she lampoons high-school popularity, and gives narrator Mackenzie some good one-liners. It's a comedy, and a good one. Very funny. Should please lots of readers, awkward or not." (Comedy. 12 & up) -Kirkus Reviews"Awkward never ceases to be completely entertaining. Teens will just...get it. This is a great recommendation for reluctant readers." -VOYA Reviews "Bates portrays Mackenzie as an endearing yet fallible protagonist, a girl worth rooting for. Her first-person narrative is light and funny and easily accessible to fans of Meg Cabot, Emily Franklin, and Ann Brashares." -School Library Journal

About the Author

Marni Bates still can’t believe she falls in love with fictional characters for a living. Her career began during her freshman year at Lewis & Clark College, when she wrote her autobiography, Marni, for HCI’s Louder Than Words series. By the time she graduated, she was on the New York Public Library’s Stuff for the Teen Age 2010 List and had made her fiction debut with her young adult novel, Awkward.

Marni is still adjusting to life in sunny Los Angeles, California. When not writing in front of her air conditioning unit, she can be found rollerblading, bargaining at garage sales, reading romance novels, and watching copious amounts of TV—strictly for artistic inspiration, of course. She loves hearing from readers and hopes that you will visit her at marnibates.com.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005JSZPRQ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kensington Teen; 1st edition (October 24, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 24, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1054 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 273 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 101 ratings

About the author

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Marni Bates
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Marni Bates began her writing career at the age of 19 with her autobiography, MARNI, for HCI’s Louder Than Words series. Her debut novel, AWKWARD, has been translated into multiple languages and optioned by Disney Channel as a made for TV movie. She has four other novels with KensingtonTeen; DECKED WITH HOLLY, INVISIBLE, NOTABLE, and AWKWARDLY EVER AFTER. She also has a Young Adult suspense, DIAL EM FOR MURDER, with Merit Press. Marni Bates is addicted to Thai food, travel, and television. Not always in that order. For more information, please visit www.marnibates.com.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
101 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2013
Meet Mackenzie Wellesley, a sixteen year old girl who is really smart and awkward. When popular girl Chelsea Halloway asks Mackenzie to help her out, Mackenzie accepts, but when she sees her crush Patrick, she ends up embarrassing herself so bad that a video was leaked to YouTube of Mackenzie doing CPR. Now everyone is talking about it and she is now The Most Awkward Girl. But, being awkward (and somewhat famous) has it's perks. She's now getting nice clothes, being invited to parties, invited to give comments, and even getting backstage passes to see the hottest band, ReadySet. But there's also the bad side to being (somewhat) famous. Mackenzie doesn't know how to handle it. People are trying to embarrass her, the paparazzi keeps following her, and she's caught up in some boy trouble. And that's just the beginning of the craziness...

I really liked the book. I loved Corey, he was always there picking outfits and supporting Mackenzie. I wished I could see more of Jane (Oh, wait, I can in the book Invisible!) in the book. I also was really happy with the ending! Throughout the whole book I was supporting that the end would happen. I knew they had to get together because of the way he was acting; it was obvious he had a crush on her.

The only thing I didn't like was the price. $7.19 for a book-an ebook, not a paperback!? Really? The only reason I bought it was because I saw that the price dropped to $1.99. I've read some really good books (*cough* Just a Little Series, Best Week of My Life, Webster Grove Series, Ryan Hunter: This Girl is Mine) that was really inexpensive. Don't get me wrong, the book was interesting and I would like to read more from Marni Bates, but she has to drop the price. I really want to read Decked With Holly, but I'm not that interested in reading a book for that price ($7.19). It'll just have to stay on my wish list until my last name turns to either Rockefeller or Trump.

Overall a great book, with (now) a great price.
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2014
Mackenzie Wellesley, 17, is a self-described geek who explains, “I fill a certain niche at my school, the local nerd.” Along with her best friends Jane and Corey (the cliché male gay friend), she navigates the social waters of Smith High School in Forest Grove, Oregon, by sticking with the Invisibles and avoiding the Notables (“who exist in a sphere of coolness”).

It so happens the most notable of The Notables, Logan Beckett, has hired Mackenzie as his history tutor, because she is not only a nerd, but a fiercely smart one. Mackenzie isn’t so impressed by him: “Being born rich with killer genetics isn’t exactly a personal accomplishment.” Rather, she has a crush on Patrick Bradford, even though he hasn’t shown her any positive attributes either except for having “melty chocolate eyes.”

Mackenzie’s greatest accomplishment, besides her grades, seems to consist of humiliating herself in public. She outdoes herself as the book begins, when she crashes into a football player, and then tries to give him CPR:

"I alternated between shouting for the nurse and yelling, ‘Does ANYONE know if I’m doing this right? AM I KILLING HIM RIGHT NOW? Can SOMEONE make sure I’M NOT KILLING HIM RIGHT NOW?!”

If you think this sounds hysterical, you wouldn’t be alone: in the story, someone has captured the whole episode on a phone and sent it to YouTube. Before long the whole country is laughing at Mackenzie. Worse yet, a hot boy-band named ReadySet picks up the clip and incorporates it into a video with their new all-the-rage song. Pretty soon, Mackenzie is about as far from invisible as you can get!

Will fame change Mackenzie? Will she have a metamorphosis? Will she get the guy? She messes up at first, but quickly recovers, and also learns to use what has happened to her for the best outcome.

Evaluation: This is a delightful, sweet book for tweens with a fun (if predictable) plot and a feel-good ending. There are good lessons for kids in this book, which provides an entertaining read for all ages. My 13-year-old niece (a One Dimension fan) went crazy over it.
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2012
Awkward by Marni Bates is one of those books that you read and think, "WHY didn't I read this sooner?" See the girl on the cover? That was me throughout all of Awkward - I was a giggly, squealing mess because I was having so much fun. I was giggling in parts of Awkward that weren't even particularly funny.

And Marni Bates knows teens. I just wanted to hug Mackenzie and be like I KNOW YOU. Awkward is so unbelievably relatable and embarrassing and I swear I was turning red with embarrassment for Mackenzie.

Oh my gosh, and LOGAN. I loved Logan. Logan is going to be one of those male fictional characters that sticks with me for a long time. He was just so interesting and normal and nice but still guy-like and just, so swoon worthy in certain moments.

Yes, the storyline in Awkward is RIDICULOUS but awesome. I mean, oh my god, just thinking about what got Mackenzie youtube famous hurts my heart with embarrassment and I know, or I hope, rather, that this won't ever happen to anyone but it doesn't matter because it is such a fun ride.

Guys, if you're in need of the perfect hilarious and sweet and cute contemporary, go pick up Awkward by Marni Bates. It made my night infinitely better and I'm sure Awkward would do the same for you!
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2014
This was a cute, light YA read. It definitely falls on the innocent side of YA. And I liked that it focused on typical high school drama rather than falling on the angsty, heart wrenching side of the spectrum. Sometimes you just need a light read and this fit the bill.

There are a few reasons I'm not rating this higher. The first is that it's a little on the long side. I found myself just wanting to get to the end. The other thing is that it's totally unbelievable. I know that's the best part of reading books, but the last 30% was just over the top. Everything literally worked out perfectly and was wrapped up in sunshine and rainbows. It was a bit overkill for me.

If you're looking for a light, cute YA read then I'd recommend this one.

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Regina D
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book!
Reviewed in Germany on September 11, 2019
Getting to know Mackenzie and her friends was a lot of fun, I loved the writing style, and even though there are a lot of familiar tropes and clichés, there were enough twists to keep the story fresh and entertaining.

Looking forward to reading the other books in the series (already on my TBR)!
cookie doughnut xx
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 14, 2015
Really good book
RP18
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Australia on January 7, 2015
Cute read
opq
5.0 out of 5 stars Geek =Smart!
Reviewed in Japan on October 5, 2012
Smith Highの生徒のステータスは大きくInvisible(Geek)とNotable(Cool)の2種類に分かれる。

と考えるInvisibleのMackenzieは、NotableのLoganのTuterをしながらLoganの元彼女Chelseaのレーダーに引っ掛からないように’ひっそりと’していた・・・

ある日、Notableの前で大恥をかいたMackenzieの映像がyoutubeでミリオンヒットとなり・・・

パパラッチに追われたり、ロックスターと知り合いになったりとMackenzieの生活は180度変わってしまい、
長年片思いしていた相手にも気付いてもらえる・・・が・・・

酔ったMackenzieをLoganが介抱するシーンが良いです。

つい吹き出してしまうシーンが満載で、おもしろい!

変わらない友情もステキです。

☆4.5
LeanneC
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed it!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 2, 2015
So, I have a bit of a goofy grin on my face right now. That last page or so, the thing I've been waiting almost 150 pages for!!, finally happened. *grins*

I'm a happy bunny.

But back to the story. Admittedly the storyline is a little unbelievable--unless you live America, obviously--but I quickly got over that and just invested myself in the possible relationships of Mackenzie. I know she liked one guy and was a bit oblivious to most things around her with her wanting to be invisible but come on! I figured out about the other thing within 100 pages!

After the video of her CPR Fail went viral, her life went a bit national-news and I guess stuff like that does happen but again I struggled to understand that part of it. Some bits were cool; the band and Ellen but other bits just made me go "huh, really?"

Nevertheless, I did enjoy the story and wouldn't mind reading more by this author.
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