Been There, Done That (Claudia Bustamante)

Book: Been There, Done That
Author: Carol Snow
Publisher: Berkley Trade, Penguin Book
Pages: 329
I chose to read this novel because my friend had read it, and said it was amazing. I had been interested ever since she was done reading.
Kathy Hopkins looks young, and she is carded all the time, she only has one problem with that. Kathy is a thirty-two year old journalist who goes undercover at Mercer College to exploit the prostuition ring going on there. Along the way, she meets many people who she finds foolish and childish, and some who surprise her in the best ways. Since Kathy looks so young, so everyone believes that she is a freshman, and has no problems fitting in. She dislikes her Clay Aiken obsessed roommate, and doesn't know how she will deal with her, but she does. As in all good stories, she meets a man in her "college" named Jeremy, and cannot take her eyes off of him. Kathy and Jeremy develop into a relationship, without him knowing she is actually thirty-two. Will anyone ever find out Kathy's secret?
The audience of this book is high school students because they would understand the context best.
The author's writing style is contempory, and very casual. The diagolugue sounds just like a college student would speak, so it was very easy to understand.
Quote to support: " 'Listen,' Jeremy said, 'About yesterday? The things I said? Can we just, you know---'
'Forget it ever happened?' I finished. I was learning to talk in questionese." (155)
Passages: "Tiffany's side of the room was looking barren these days. Ethan said he didn’t like Clay Aiken looking at them. The posters came down immediately. Oddly, I missed Clay's airbrushed face. It was always nice to have someone else in the room whenever Tiffany got into one of her snits" (235). -- This quote struck me because at first Kathy hated all of Tiffany's posters. Now she sees them as comfort to
her, and this tells the reader she's becoming attached.
"I pulled my shirt back up. The ring was a small gold hoop: entirely tasteful except for the fact that it was stuck in my navel" (316)-- This quote struck me because I feel like Kathy went against her beliefs to get her belly-button pierced. I really did not expect her to do so, and neither did she.
"...jealousies would develop, boredom would fester, and hierarchies would evolve. But for now, we were one big, happy, incestuous family. we traveled in packs" (90).-- This quote was funny to me because it reminded of my friends and I, and how we go everywhere together. I can relate to this passage because teenagers my age are the same way.
The primary theme of this book is to always be honest. Kathy's dishonesty comes back to bite her, and this demonstrates a theme.
I would give this book an A, because it was a wonderful book. It kept me reading, and I could barely put the novel down. I related to the book, which made it even better. At times it was slow, but then it picked right back up. I recommend it to everyone who wants to read a fantastic book.