I first discovered a Cynthia Blair YA novel back in my preteens, rediscovered the author a few years ago, and I've been enjoying reading new-to-me YA books by her ever since.

It's amazing that I got such a kick out of this novel, and not just for the '80s nostalgia factor. Yes, the story's pretty much got the predictable events I would've been surprised not to see. Even so, the story manages not to roll out in the most predictable of ways at every turn.

I kinda had a chuckle over the teen contest prizes—the fact that the prize would be different depending on the winner's gender. I almost felt like the boy's prize would be better than Lisa's, and I wonder what kind of feedback or pushback a teen contest like it would get today. Heeheehee, pretty sure the rules would be different nowadays.

I also really liked the story's message about having to live with the decisions you make, whether they're good or poor decisions. (Yes, good decisions can come with difficult consequences too, of course.)

All in all, this read was plenty of fun for me. ( )