Not the best chick-lit book I've read, but okay. Jen is a Chicago news producer, but is also a half-Japanese, half-Caucasian Southern girl from Arkansas. Being called back to be a bridesmaid in her cousin's wedding gives rise to the story, which finds Jen spending lots of time remembering her middle- and high-school years, lots of time worrying about her date to the wedding, and then traveling back and learning about her past and herself. ( )

Lots of fun - it was the references to stirrup pants, Karate Kid, Happy Days, Footloose, friendship bracelets and blue eye shadow that I loved. If you are a girl of the 80's then you are bound to enjoy the nostalgic factor :) ( )

I've been meaning to read this book for over a year now, but somehow it's always managed to move just a spot or two down my TBR pile (I've never been good with keeping things in line). It's a nice book, even if the storyline is rather old and tired (Would I have thought that a year ago? I'll never know). The racial twist is both authentic and amusing, without being heavy-handed or over-the-top. A very enjoyable read that doesn't take stupid shortcuts with its characterisations. ( )

This book is so much win I can't even describe it. First of all, the main character is a child of the '80s, and flashbacks to her childhood make so many pop culture references it's like reading one of those email forwards -- "If you remember this, you are a child of the '80s!" Better than that, though, it is the first book I have ever encountered (and I would fear the only one I will ever encounter, but she has at least three other books) featuring a Japanese-American/caucasian female main character. OMG. OMG OMG OMG. It has never occurred to me to want to see that because, growing up in the Midwest, you are so ISOLATED as a biracial minority. But. It is there. It exists. OMG. All the experiences are so painfully familiar it is just wonderful. Like a little literary miracle in chicklit form. I am so happy with this book my heart may explode. Right, right, so plot. Okay. The plot is about a woman from the South who has moved to Chicago and needs to go "home" for a family wedding. She needs a date, so she brings the totally hot and improbably-described Riley (you cannot look like both Colin Firth and Colin Farrell, for heck's sake. Likewise, you could not look like both Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. No no no), who she ends up developing quite the thing for. Lo and behold, it is requited! But still, hijinks must ensue. The writing is quite serviceable; nothing so spectacular it makes me want to praise Webster for helping the English language get to a point where it could produce this, nothing bad or inferior to an English-major set norm, either. I am delighted with this book. So much happiness. I wish I could recommend it to everyone with the expectation that it would get the same reception, but part of my love of this book is that it reflects my life experiences, and if you haven't got those, you won't get part of it. Still, anyone who remembers jelly shoes, the Presidential Fitness Challenge, L.A. Gear and such will get a kick out of the '80s pop culture references. :) And hey, if you ever wondered what it was like to be Asian-American/white biracial in a part of the States that doesn't have a lot of diversity, this is a great, great, great illustration of it. ( )

A cute book about a woman who's half Japanese and half Dixieland Southern. ( )