Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

I have TWO giveaways going on right now! 

Win a signed copy of Jersey Tomatoes are the Best! (last day to enter)

Win an ARC of Shut Out by Kody Keplinger!

Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Poppy, September 5, 2011

Summary from Goodreads:

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention.

Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: she and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. And Lissa never sees her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling, coming.

Inspired by Aristophanes' play Lysistrata, critically acclaimed author of The Duff (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) Kody Keplinger adds her own trademark humor in this fresh take on modern teenage romance, rivalry and sexuality.

I was SO very excited to read this book--I absolutely loved The DUFF and had high expectations for Kody Keplinger's second novel. And she did not disappoint! Shut Out is refreshingly realistic, funny, and contemporary read.

I can already imagine that some idiots might grumble about the topic of this book. Yes, it's about sex. And yes, there are teens having sex in this book. Um, but teens are having sex in real life. I love that Kody was so honest in the dialogue of this story. Some of these girls are virgins, some are somewhat promiscuous, and most are in serious relationships. All have questions about sex and sexuality, and all explore the repercussions that sex and sexuality have on their relationships and their lives. I love that Shut Out's teens are learning to be so candid in talking about sex, and I love the questions that are explored in this novel. (Why is Chloe a slut because she sleeps around, while Shane is celebrated for doing the same? An age-old dilemma that I would love to see solved in my lifetime!) In addition, the way the girls carry out the sex strike--and the way the boys retalitate--makes for some fun reading!

Lissa is quite the unlikely protagonist. Unsettled (naturally) after her mother's passing, she develops some OCD-like tendancies and hones her controlling nature to the nth degree. At the beginning of the book she's distraught because her brother is something like 5 minutes late getting home. I thought her brother had to be seven or something--nope, he's 27...ten years older than her! I actually found Lissa a little hard to take sometimes, but her controlling nature meant she was the perfect person to organize and lead the girls.

As an aside, I just wanted to say that I was intrigued by the rivalry between the football and soccer teams. My high school had a local rival, but neither school ever pulled pranks or anything. If I remember correctly (and I may not be, because I wasn't one of the "cool" kids in high school), the football and soccer teams actually co-existed quite nicely. So reading about the stunts each team pulls was quite entertaining.


Fans of Kody's debut will love this one! I have an extra ARC to give away, be sure to click on the link above!

ARC received from publisher.
Enjoy your reading!
Christi