The Serious Kiss

by Mary Hogan

Book Overview

One summer day, Libby and her best friend hatch a plan: Before their freshman year is over, they will each have a serious kiss. Libby even has the boy picked out. But Libby's too-crazy-to-believe... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060722088
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: HarperTeen
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.6" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

The Serious Kiss Review

The Serious Kiss is an awesome story that any teenager would enjoy. It is about two girls that make a deal to get a serious kiss by the end of their freshman year. Not just any kiss, but a kiss that actually means something. The only problem is the main character, Libby has several obstacles in her way. The major problem is her family. Her father is an alcoholic. The problem gets worse when her father ends up losing their house because of his drinking. The family is forced to move to a Barstow a small town in the middle of nowhere. They move into a mobile home in a retirement community. The trailer was right next to her Grandmothers, who she thought was dead all these years. Her father made a deal with his mother to stop drinking in exchange for a place to live. Libby thought that life could not get any worse. She then meets Barbara and Warren, who together show her that some things in life are not all bad. The story turns when her dad gets in an accident while drinking and is ordered into rehab. Things start looking up for the family. Her father turns back into the loving dad he once was and Libby slowly accepts her new life in Barstow. She did finally receive her serious kiss at the end of the story by Warren. The main character in this story is Libby or Elizabeth. When comparing Libby to Emma from a Land Remembered there are several differences. Emma and Libby are different in age, where Emma is twenty five and Libby is fourteen. Emma is liked by everyone whereas Libby is teased a great deal by everyone. Emma is a mother and Libby is a child but they both hold family values very highly. Emma is the backbone of her family and wants to keep the family together. Libby also has strong feelings and she gets really stressed when she feels her family life is slipping away. Libby can also be compared to Zech, Emma's son as they both grew up lonely. Neither character had a lot of friends to hang out with. The theme of the story deals with family struggles. I think that the lesson in this theme is that people should take bad situations and look at them in a positive way. Life is not valued at how many things you own. If you look at a bad situation in a positive way the condition will seem better and eventually you will make it better. People need to realize that your life is what you make it and if you look at it in a negative way it will turn out bad. Libby and her best friend are starting high school and they make a deal to each get a serious kiss by the end of their freshman year. Libby starts working on her plan and even has a boy picked out when her parents drop the bombshell that they are moving. They are moving to a town in the middle of nowhere. Libby is losing her best friend and any hope of her serious kiss. Just as Libby feels that her life is falling apart she meets two special people that show her that things in life are not all that bad. She begins accepting her life change and things begin looking u

The Co,mpulsive Reader's Reviews

Libby is struggling against Creation. You know the big debate, nurture vs. nature? Well, either way, Libby is in trouble, with her alcoholic father and a mother who overeats, and whose idea of a wholesome meal is a large pizza from Dominos or a red and white bucket from KFC. But amidst the chaos, Libby is determined to experience It. True love in the form one perfect, unforgettable kiss from the One. And with the way things are going, her dream may not be that far off. But all of her plans are disrupted when her father's drinking leaves him jobless, friendless, and ultimately, their family homeless. Libby's family must pack up and leave the only home she's ever known and move out in the middle of nowhere. She's devastated, humiliated, and hurt. But slowly she'll learn to find peace within herself, and maybe come to find beauty and life in the middle of the desert. The Serious Kiss is quite an accomplishment of a first novel. It deals with many heavy issues at once in such a way that you can only feel deep empathy for Libby and at the same time deep admiration for her as she's dealt blow after blow, but still manages to bounce back. The characters are all far from perfect, but each is honest and significant. Hogan has a way with details that breathe life into each element of the story, giving the reader a more realistic reading experience. Eye-opening, a bit quirky, humorous, and poignant, The Serious Kiss is the sort of book that won't leave you any time soon, and it'll very easily become a favorite as this resilient heroine still manages to move on and learn to let go.

romantic

i loved this book.it is so crazy with the characters libby is so awsome and whe she kisses the guy it is so so romantic.i would recommended this book to my 7th grader friends and to anyone else thats in love.it totally rocks!!!!!!!!!

Great Book

The Serious Kiss is a great book. I love all of the crazy characters in this book. It's about a girl named Libby that has a crazy family and her best friend and she had made a deal that they each would have a serious kiss before the end of the school year. But everything goes wrong when her family moves to the desert and she finds out that she has a grandmother that she thought was dead and they end up moving into a trailer park. Her grandmother had the trailer put right next to hers, which makes everything even worse. Her dad and her grandmother hadn't spoken to each other in 20 years and she doesn't fit in at her new school. Also, her family is different from other families. So if you love the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison I am positive you will like this book also.

Brava!

This is the best book I've read in a long time. Libby, the heroine, is likeable, smart, funny, vulnerable. The issues she deals with from start to finish ring absolutely true. I don't think there's been a better character than Libby since Harry Potter. I hope that the author, Mary Hogan, is writing like crazy -- can't wait to read more of her books!