Every Boy's Got One

From Publishers Weekly
A day-by-day travel journal intended as a first anniversary present for Jane Harris's best friend, Holly, turns into Jane's rollicking private diary account of the madcap events leading up to Holly and Mark's Italian countryside elopement. Cabot (Boy Meets Girl), who pens the bestselling young adult series the Princess Diaries, presents an engaging topsy-turvy tale pitting maid of honor Jane, renowned for her Garfield-like Wonder Cat cartoons, against Mark's best friend and best man, international journalist Cal Langdon (who, to Jane's astonishment, has never heard of Wonder Cat). The author garners extra points for cleverly bringing the novel to life via Jane's diary, Cal's PDA journal and the hilarious e-mails that whiz through cyberspace between the main characters, their respective family members and one diehard Wonder Cat fan. Cabot captures the rustic charm of Castelfidardo, a small Italian town in the region of Le Marche, which happens to be the accordion-making capital of the world and is replete with unpredictable electricity, dubious public restrooms and bureaucratic snafus that nearly derail the wedding plans. The jaded, bitterly divorced Cal makes a worthy opponent to Jane, whose notions of marriage are much more romantic than his. Cabot's personal epilogue about her own elopement in the Italian countryside—marked by much of the mayhem her main characters encounter—adds spice to this frothy concoction of love, friendship and true romance. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
In her signature mode, Cabot uses e-mails, journal entries, PDA logs, sales receipts, and boarding passes to tell an over-the-top tale of an elopement to Italy. Maid-of-honor Jane scribbles furiously in her travel diary about the heartless and unromantic best man, Cal. Cal punches the keys of his Blackberry, sending e-mail to groom Mark about madcap Jane. Bride Holly tosses notes to Jane about Mark's cute friend, and everyone is in a luggage-stuffed Toyota on the way to a picturesque Italian villa (not in tenth-grade study hall, as assumed).When the lack of one legal document prevents Holly and Mark from holy matrimony, it's Jane and Cal to the rescue as they race to the U.S. consulate in Rome, eight hours away, while Holly and Mark share their first bout of food poisoning from oysters. All the while everyone is scribbling, typing, e-mailing, and doodling. The plot is as thin as prosciutto, but fans of Cabot's previous novels will still want a taste. Purchase for large collections. Kaite Mediatore
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description

To: Jane Harris <jane@wondercat.com>
Fr: Claire Harris <charris2004@freemail.com>
Re: You

Hi, honey! It's me, Mom. I know it's a big secret that your friend Holly and her boyfriend Mark are eloping in Italy, and that you and Mark's friend Cal Langdon (the handsome New York Journal reporter with the big book deal) are going, too, as their witnesses. But I just saw Holly's mother at the Kroger Sav-On, and I thought I'd warn you: She doesn't seem to like Mark very much at all. Just wanted to let you know.

PS I don't understand why you don't like that nice Cal Langdon! He seemed so smart when I saw him being inte viewed on Charlie Rose. And so handsome!

PPS Don't forget to wear a sweater!

ANNOTATION

Join Meg Cabot for our free Online Reading Group on Every Boy's Got One. The conversation begins February 7th -- sign up now!

FROM THE PUBLISHER

When cartoonist Jane Harris￯﾿ﾽs best friend Holly, New York Journal art director, announces that she￯﾿ﾽs eloping to Italy with longtime doctor boyfriend Mark, and asks Jane to come along as her witness, Jane jumps at the chance, delighted by the prospect of her first ever trip to Europe.

What Jane doesn￯﾿ﾽt gamble on is Mark￯﾿ﾽs witness, New York Journal foreign affairs correspondent Cal Langdon. It￯﾿ﾽs hate at first sight for Jane and Cal, and neither is too happy at the prospect of sharing a villa with one another for a week —not even in the beautiful and picturesque Le Marche countryside.

But when Holly and Mark￯﾿ﾽs wedding plans hit a major snag that only Jane and Cal can repair, the two find themselves having to put aside their mutual dislike for one another in order to get their best friends on the road to wedded bliss, and end up on a road themselves —one neither of them ever expected....

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

A day-by-day travel journal intended as a first anniversary present for Jane Harris's best friend, Holly, turns into Jane's rollicking private diary account of the madcap events leading up to Holly and Mark's Italian countryside elopement. Cabot (Boy Meets Girl), who pens the bestselling young adult series the Princess Diaries, presents an engaging topsy-turvy tale pitting maid of honor Jane, renowned for her Garfield-like Wonder Cat cartoons, against Mark's best friend and best man, international journalist Cal Langdon (who, to Jane's astonishment, has never heard of Wonder Cat). The author garners extra points for cleverly bringing the novel to life via Jane's diary, Cal's PDA journal and the hilarious e-mails that whiz through cyberspace between the main characters, their respective family members and one diehard Wonder Cat fan. Cabot captures the rustic charm of Castelfidardo, a small Italian town in the region of Le Marche, which happens to be the accordion-making capital of the world and is replete with unpredictable electricity, dubious public restrooms and bureaucratic snafus that nearly derail the wedding plans. The jaded, bitterly divorced Cal makes a worthy opponent to Jane, whose notions of marriage are much more romantic than his. Cabot's personal epilogue about her own elopement in the Italian countryside-marked by much of the mayhem her main characters encounter-adds spice to this frothy concoction of love, friendship and true romance. Agent, Laura J. Langlie. 8-city author tour. (Jan. 4) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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