All-American Girl (All-American Girl, 1)

by Meg Cabot

Book Overview

The New York Times bestselling hit from Meg Cabot Samantha Madison is just your average sophomore gal living in DC when, in an inadvertent moment sandwiched between cookie-buying and CD-perusing, she... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061479896
• ISBN13: 9780061479892
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: HarperTeen
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 4.2" x 1.0"

Customer Reviews

Cute book!

Cute book for younger readers. I read this when I was younger. Got it for my daughter to read.

Two Thumbs Up!!

Samantha Madison thinks she doesn't fit into her family because she has an older sister who is the most popular girl in school and a younger sister who is a certified genius. She just been caught selling celebrity portraits at school in her German notebook which she is making a C-minus in. Now she is being forced to take art classes. She's just been appointed teen appointed teen ambassador of the UN. And...the prsidents son just might be i love with her!! The reason I like this book is because alot of the things that happen people can relate to. I also like all the conflicts that go on with her and her friends. It is an awesome book and keeps you interested in the book.

Absolutely Hilarious - A Must Read!

Samantha "Sam" has definite theories about middle children and knows that they are all messed up, just like her. While her older sister, Lucy, is busy being Miss Popularity as a high school cheerleader and great dresser, her younger sister, Rebecca, is a total brain and goes to a special private school for way accelerated learning, Sam is spending her time dying her whole wardrobe black in protest and trying to devise ways to convince Jack, Lucy's boyfriend, that he is really in love with her. In her spare time, Sam draws portraits of her classmates with famous movie stars and makes pretty good money, too, until Lucy rats her out. The next thing she knows, Sam is stuck in this stupid art class where the teacher keeps telling her to "see" and acts like she is the worst artist ever.After the first humiliating class, Sam is determined never to return, so she hides in the CD store downstairs until her housekeeper comes to pick her up. She notices a suspicious guy, whom she calls Mr. Uptown Girl on account of his listening to Billy Joel's hit umpteen times while she is waiting and thinks its pretty weird that he is waiting outside her art class, but whatever. Much to her surprise, he pulls out a gun and tries to shoot the president, who is just trying to buy a cookie, for heaven's sake, and then astounds everyone, herself included, when she tackles Mr. Uptown Girl and takes him down. Instant celebrity and hero status is conferred upon Sam and she finds herself dodging reporters, having dinner at the White House, and trying to figure out what the heck is going on with David, the president's son. Sam immediately recognizes David from her art class and is desperate to keep him from mentioning that she skipped class the previous week, but David doesn't seem to care that much. He does seem interested in her, though, but her heart is already taken, isn't it?This is just a great story by Meg Cabot - I was laughing the whole way through. Sam is a riot and it is so funny to go through her thought processes and see why she is doing what she does. It was also a great story because Sam really learns to "see" and that it is okay to be normal and follow rules once in a while. With a great cast of supporting characters and lots of hilarious, if improbable moments, this book is a must read!

A must read for every American girl!

"All-American Girl" is the brand new book written by Meg Cabot, also the author of the famous series for teen girls, "The Princess Diaries".PLOT SUMMARY: 15-year-old Samantha Madison lives in Washington DC with her mother, father, and two sisters (she's the middle child). Sam describes herself as total redheaded outcast--always dressing in black, listening to punk/rock music, etc. Her older sister, Lucy, is the most popular girl (cheerleader, nonetheless) at her high school and is dating the guy of Sam's dreams, high school rebel, Jack Ryder. Sam's younger sister, Rebecca, is a genius who attends a special school for gifted children. Sam's life abruptly changes when she saves the president of the United States from an assassination...while cutting her art lessons. Not only does Sam receive a broken arm, but she also becomes famous when the president himself announces that she is teen ambassador to the UN. Things couldn't get worse, right? Wrong! Because now she thinks the president's own son, David, may be in love with her and all she wants is for Jack to love her!OVERALL THOUGHTS: I'm a little old for Meg Cabot's teen books but I must say that I am always amazed by her well-written/described characters and witty sense of humor. This book is well-written, and should be enjoyed by all teenage girls. If you like romantic-comedy novels with a little bit of fantasy twisted into it, then you should definitely read "All-American Girl". The plots are always simple, straight-forward, and a little bit predictable but it doesn't matter because these books are too good not to read.I highly recommend "All-American Girl" by Meg Cabot.Score:98/100A+

From good to bad, great to worse, then horrible to wonderful

All-American Girl is absolutely a Must-Read! However, in this book 5'2, sophomore, teenage, and artistic girl Samantha Madsion goes through MANY changes! Like when she ditches her second art class at the Susan Boone Gallery (because of drawing in her German notebook and her mom putting her on probation to take a class of art), she actually sees the president of the United States! The president was walking in this Cookie store with his "security guard-men", so this Billy Joel fan guy near Sam takes this gun out of his coat and then...KABLAM!!! Technically, the "Kablam!" wasn't what happened at all. Instead, Sam saves the president by making the Billy Joel fan assasssinator shoot his gun in a different direction! Since the guy was heavy, he landed on top of Sam and she injuries her wrist. So these people come and take her to the hospital. And then Miss Samantha's life changes forever! By becoming a hero, totally popular and famous, becomes US Teen Ambassador, gets invited by her enemy's party, and even the president's son David falls in love with her! There are some big surprises and laughs and dramatic moments in this American book too! Sam's life goes good to bad then so on.... But, I had also liked when Meg Cabot dedicated this novel to the heroes of the September 11th attack! I was impressed, all right! So All-American Girl is one of the best Young Adult Books to get at the library or at the bookstore. It might have been really different than Cabot's Princess Diaries series, but this book was better, to be honest. I mean, she put some good things in it. Like things about art. The "listening and hearing" and the "seeing and imagining" parts was pretty creative, in fact. If you like books about love, semi-drama, laughs, surprises, and especially about America, then you'll this book.

Excellent

Samantha Madison is what you would call an outcast. She's somewhat of a goth/artist. Her best friend, Catherine, wears clothes from like the 1800's, she's in love with her older sister Lucy's boyfriend, and her younger sister is a certified genius.When Lucy tells their parents that Samantha is charging people to have their picture drawn with their favorite celebrity her parents enroll her in art class, where she meets David, and is humiliated on her first day, which causes her to ditch her next art lesson, and end up being in the right place at the right time to save the president's life. Which immediatley throws Samantha into a whirlwind of popularity and press conferences. Not to mention that the president's son may be falling in love with her. How could someone's life go from so normal to so crazy?Meg Cabot has another hit with "All American Girl." Obviously she can write on any topic, and this one was original and refreshing compared to the other teen/young adult books out right now. This is a must read for all fans of "The Princess Diaries." A lot of teenage girls will be able to relate completely to Samantha.