Enthusiasm
7. Polly Shulman, Enthusiasm
Julie has always lived in the shadow of her best friend Ashleigh. Ash is passionate and outgoing, and she drags Julie enthusiastically along from one crazy hobby to the next. As they prepare to start their sophomore year at Byzantium High, Ashleigh becomes obsessed with Pride and Prejudice and insists on dressing in nineteenth-century fashions, using Austen-esque speech, and of course, trying to find her very own Mr. Darcy. Julie is a little resentful at this - after all, Austen has always been her special interest - but she follows along as usual. That is, until Ashleigh decides to crash a dance at a local boys’ prep school, where she falls for the good-looking boy Julie’s been secretly crushing on! As the girls become friends with him and his friends at the prep-school, several romantic complications ensue, and Julie might eventually have to decide between friendship and true love.
What an adorable book! As someone who’s more than a little obsessed with Austen herself, I’ve read a lot of Austen-inspired fiction, and this is definitely one of the better efforts. Instead of copying the plot of any single Austen novel verbatim, Shulman draws inspiration from Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion while still managing to create her own story. I identified with Julie and could definitely sympathize with her throughout the novel. I think the subplot with her parents’ divorce was unnecessary and a little unoriginal, but the main story was exuberant and a lot of fun. Even though it’s written for young teens, and most of the scenes take place in a high school, I found a lot to enjoy. I got this book from the library, but I’m definitely considering buying it now!