"When
I grew up, I found that I had become a great expert on bullies, and my books
are full of them." -Marilyn Sachs
I read Marilyn Sachs's HELLO...WRONG NUMBER (Scholastic, YA) when I was in grade school. The story,
told strictly in dialogue, starts with Angie calling for a hot boy she likes
named Jim. The boy she calls is named Jim, but she dialed a wrong number. This
Jim and Angie attend the same high school, but haven't met. Angie keeps calling
Jim to talk. Two weeks into these phone calls, Jim sings a song to Angie and confesses his love.
Around this time, Angie jokes about a boy with a big nose at
her school who has been following her around. She's unaware of how
uncomfortable her shallowness makes Jim.
Angie
finds out that the boy with the big nose is Jim, her phone buddy. She also
learns from talking to Jim's ex-girlfriend that Jim lied to her about some
stuff. The ex-girlfriend said she broke up with Jim, but Jim told Angie he
broke up with his ex-girlfriend. Jim also told Angie he is a professional musician,
but in reality, he is too shy to even try out for chorus. That sort of stuff.
Angie angrily confronts Jim. Jim says he wanted her to think he was
someone special. At the end of the story, the two meet and talk for nine
hours. After their talk, they talk on the phone again and Angie tells Jim
she loves him too.
This book is one of many light teen romances I read back in the day. For both their sakes, I'm relieved that Jim isn't a sex offender and Angie isn't a Fatal Attraction-type stalker.
Have you read HELLO...WRONG NUMBER? Could you be in a relationship
with someone who once shallowly judged you by your appearance or lied to you to
make themselves look cooler?
17 comments:
Sounds like a good read. I haven't read it. Lovely post. Thank you.
I don't agree with lying in a relationship, but at that age, I understand it. And they weren't really hurtful lies, just something to boost Jim's self confidence a bit. Angie doesn't sound like she would have given him the time of day without the little white lies to keep her interested
Debbie
That seems to be the norm with kids. Always thinking they have to impress someone else. Only later in life do they realize that making friends with people who won't like you for who you are, are not good friends to have. Sounds like a fun read. As I've been working on my YA series, this might be something I should read.
Ah, teenage love and it's perils. I have never read this one. If I was Jim I probably would have hung up and never spoken to her again.
Tasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)
This does sound like a smile-inducing read :)
When my husband and I were dating- he accidentally left his "little black book" in my car- of course I read it only to find out I was 3 stars our of 5!
When my husband and I were dating- he accidentally left his "little black book" in my car- of course I read it only to find out I was 3 stars our of 5!
Sometimes you get judged a bit, as we all do to others at times, so I wouldn't take it to personally.
No, I haven't read that one. I think everyone is more comfortable behind the wall of anonymity (the Internet now, but a phone call back then), so I'm not surprised that some judgey things were said. Plus, they're teens--that's probably enough reason.
I could probably forgive some lies from someone who had low self-esteem, as long as they came clean eventually.
New one to me. I'm not sure it was around when I was the age I would have enjoyed it. By 11 I had moved on to horror and never really came back to romance. Good lesson plot though.
Marilyn Sachs was one of my all-time favorite authors growing up, yet I've never heard of this book.
Just looked it up and I see it was published a little later than the bulk of the Sachs books I read. Marilyn Sachs has a great website! And I'm glad to see she's written a sequel to A Pocket Full of Seeds.
I love that it was told strictly in dialogue. I read a book not too long ago told completely in text messages and instant messages.
The cover looks familiar, but the plot doesn't sound like I've read it. You're right, that could have gone a whole different way.
I haven't read it, but it sounds like a good story. I like to keep it light sometimes, so it's nice that the story didn't go the stalker route. I'm sure I've been misjudged many times because I am very quiet when I first meet people.
I haven't read this one, but it sounds like a sweet story.
Yvonne V
Hey, this sounds a lot like internet chat... before the internet chat ;-)
@JazzFeathers
The Old Shelter - Jazz Age Jazz
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