If I'm Being Honest

by Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Featuring a diverse cast, If I'm Being Honest takes genuinely human characters, gives them quippy dialogue and comes away with a dynamic and hilarious rom-com built around Shakespeare. It's fresh, feminist and wholly entertaining.

"This delightfully feminist rom-com has characters that feel like friends and will surely appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen."—Buzzfeed

Cameron Bright is gorgeous, popular, and—according to her classmates—a total b*tch. But when her crush, Andrew, catches a glimpse of her cruelty up close, it's enough to drive him away for good. To win him over, Cameron resolves to "tame" herself, like Shakespeare's shrew, Katherine. If she can make amends to those she's wronged, Andrew will have to take notice. Cameron's apology tour begins with Brendan, the guy whose social life she single-handedly destroyed. At first, Brendan isn't so quick to forgive, but slowly he warms to her when they connect over a computer game he's developing. To Cameron's amazement, she enjoys hanging out with Brendan, who views her honesty as an asset, and she wonders: maybe you don't have to compromise who you are for the kind of love you deserve.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780451478665
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	02/04/2020
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	398,177
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	HL740L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Raised by a school librarian, Austin's always had a passion for books, especially books for young people. He met and fell in love with Emily in high school and went to Harvard University as an undergraduate. He studied English (focusing on Shakespeare) and graduated magna cum laude in 2014. Recently, Austin worked as a journalist for The Hollywood Reporter. He is currently a UCLA law student; however there's nothing he loves like writing with Emily. Emily, whose parents are screenwriters, has loved writing and story-telling since an age she hardly remembers. Since meeting Austin (she says it was middle school—accounts vary), Emily attended Princeton University as an undergraduate, studied psychology, and graduated magna cum laude in 2014. While at Princeton, she wrote the first novel in her self-published YA fantasy trilogy, the Last Oracle, which was featured in USA Today and was a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for If I'm Being Honest:

"This delightfully feminist rom-com has characters that feel like friends and will surely appeal to fans of Sarah Dessen."—Buzzfeed

"Cameron may be a mean girl, but she's also smart, self-aware and willing to do the hard work necessary to earn her happy ever after — and that makes her heroine material in my book."—NPR.com

"The authors use 'The Taming of the Shrew' as an effective framing device to examine modern ideas of feminism, which leads to a profound character arc and the essential message of how to claim your mistakes and do better."—The Washington Post

“This modern teen rom-com is everything I wanted and more—smart, witty, charming, and totally irresistible. A delight from beginning to end!”—Robyn Schneider, bestselling author of The Beginning of Everything
 
“‘Sweet and sharp’ doesn’t just describe geeky Brendan and feisty Cameron, but also this utter delight of a book. It’s the fresh take on the Bard (and rom-coms!) I was waiting for.”—Rachel Hawkins, New York Times bestselling author

"If I'm Being Honest puts a frehs, feminist spin on The Taming of the Shrew, with a main character who won't be tamed as she navigates shifting friendships, challenging family dynamics, and unexpected love."—Joy McCullough, author of the National Book Award nominee Blood Water Paint

"A valuable addition to the contemporary realistic fiction genre. The message that being kinder does not mean compromising who you are, but rather unveiling the better and more authentic version of one's self, is admirable. A refreshing mean-girl transformation story akin to 10 Things I Hate About You."—Kirkus Reviews

"The Shakespeare-in-high-school story line is always popular, and Cameron's quest for redemption is given depth by her complicated family. A frothy drama with plenty of layers."—Booklist

"Wibberley and Siegemund-Broka’s punchy prose and deft (mis)handling of Shakespeare make for an entertaining read on their own, but the authors’ real strength lies in their treatment of Cameron and her friends, both new and old. While most of these characters aren’t exactly likable, they are all so complex and thoroughly developed that we can’t help but root for them—and see ourselves in them—as they work through the drama and the expectations that come with senior year."—BookPage

"Loosely based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, this is a delightfully sweet and positive tale of redemption, self-discovery, and true love."—Brightly

From the Publisher

04/01/2019

Gr 7 Up—All her classmates at her private high school in Los Angeles think queen bee Cameron Bright can be described in one phrase: driven, brutally honest bitch. Pretty, exceptionally hardworking, and secretly insecure, Cameron frequently lashes out cruelly when crossed and excuses it as simply "saying what's true" regardless of how badly it hurts the recipient. When her crush Andrew observes her verbally attacking another student, he dumps her immediately and she realizes that she needs to "tame" herself in order to win him over, just like Kate in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. She begins by trying to apologize to nerdy loner Brendan, whom she saddled with an unfortunate nickname that has haunted him since sixth grade. It's harder than she expected to get him to trust her, and Cameron begins to see his virtues—and those of others she's wounded with her nasty quips. Although she can't seem to help slipping up sometimes, she grows in empathy and in maturity and makes a lot of surprising discoveries about herself in the process. Cameron and her many friends (and frenemies) feel very genuine, and the juxtaposition of her relationship with her cold, absent father and spineless, quasi-alcoholic mother clarifies the reasons why she pushes herself beyond her limits to succeed. The dialogue is funny and effortless, and the other characters are quirky and believable. VERDICT The authors have also written a popular series called "The Last Oracle." Expect demand.—Susan Riley, Mamaroneck Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

2019-01-28

Honesty is always the best policy…unless you're Cameron Bright.

Cameron is a natural blonde, runs six miles a day (with the body to prove it), and is determined to attend Wharton as a way of connecting with her distant father, who is an alumnus. But if her Beaumont Prep classmates had to choose one word to describe her, it would be "bitch." Cameron has prided herself on speaking her mind to everyone, until one instance of brutal honesty causes Andrew Richmond, the boy she likes, to call her a bitch to her face. Bent on proving she can change, and inspired by the debatable transformation of Katherine from Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Cameron plans to right the wrongs she's committed against various people, including Paige Rosenfeld, whom she verbally degraded in front of Andrew, and Paige's socially isolated brother, whom she's dubbed "Barfy Brendan," not realizing he has celiac disease. Her arduous journey toward transfiguration—while also dissecting her strained relationships with both parents—makes this a valuable addition to the contemporary realistic fiction genre. The message that being kinder does not mean compromising who you are, but rather unveiling the better and more authentic version of one's self, is admirable. Most characters are assumed white except for Andrew, who is black, and Cameron's friend Elle, who is Chinese-American.

A refreshing mean-girl transformation story akin to 10 Things I Hate About You. (Fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews