On the Fence av Kasie West

Forfatter: Kasie West
Utgitt: 1. juli 2014
Forlag: HarperTeen
Språk: Engelsk
Medium: eBook
Kjøp fra BookDepository

A translated review for the YA contemporary challenge is on the bottom of this post.

Summary, Goodreads:
Charlie Reynolds can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at a chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world. To cope with the stress of her new reality, Charlie takes to spending nights chatting with her neighbor Braden through the fence between their yards. As she grows to depend on their nightly Fence Chats, she realizes she's got a bigger problem than speeding tickets-she's falling for Braden. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high.

16 år gamle Charlie, Charlotte Reynolds, har vokst opp med tre brødre og en nabogutt. Hun har alltid vert en av guttene, spilt sport, vert med på utfordringer og lekesloss med dem. Etter at hun får fartsboten tvinger faren henne til å få seg en jobb så hun kan betale den ned. Hun finner en jobb i en klesbutikk der hun er nødt til å kle seg i annet en joggebukser og sportstrøyer. Hun får seg også jobb som sminke modell. Alt dette er med på å åpne henne mer opp til hva hun tenker på som jentete. Moren hennes døde da hun var seks år gammel og hun har ingen minner om henne. Men hun forsetter å tenke at om moren hadde vært her så hadde alt vært annerledes, hadde det ikke?

Hun får seg også nye venner igjennom jobben og føler plutselig at hun lever et dobbelt liv. Et liv som guttejenten hjemme og livet som en mer feminin jente som hun vet at brødrene kommer til å gjøre narr av. Charlie har vanskeligheter for å skille mellom disse to livene sine. I det ene gjør hun seg dummere, later som om hun vet lite om sport og mer om jentegreier. I det andre unnlater hun å fortelle om at hun faktisk ikke har så mye imot å kle seg i fine klær og sminke seg. Boken tar for seg hvordan disse to verdene til Charlie sakte møtes og hun må prøve å finne en balanse.

Dette hadde ikke vert en super sommerbok uten litt guttedrama. Charlie merker at hun begynner å utvikle følelser for nabogutten Braden. De har kjent hverandre i evigheter så hun prøver å skyve bort følelsene men det går ikke. Spesielt ikke med all klemmingen, lekeslossingen og samtalene ved gjerde hver midnatt. Med alt dette som foregår mellom dem blir det vanskelig for henne å tolke hans intensjoner. Kledd opp etter å ha sittet sminkemodell møter hun også Evan som viser interesse for henne. Men vil han like henne om han viste om begge sidene av livet hennes?

Dette var en super søt bok som jeg ikke klarte å legge fra meg. Kasie West er raskt blitt en av mine nye favoritt forfattere. Boken er lettlest men tar for seg dypere tema som savnet etter en foreldre, det å finne seg selv og selvfølgelig en dose kjærlighets drama. For meg var dette den perfekte sommerboken. Selv om det kanskje ikke er det beste litterære verket jeg har lest så var den fengende fra start til slutt og fikk meg til å føle mange forskjellige følelser, så topp karakter fra meg!

5 / 5

Summary, Goodreads:
Charlie Reynolds can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at a chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world. To cope with the stress of her new reality, Charlie takes to spending nights chatting with her neighbor Braden through the fence between their yards. As she grows to depend on their nightly Fence Chats, she realizes she's got a bigger problem than speeding tickets-she's falling for Braden. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high.

16 year old Charlie have grown up with tree brothers and a neighbor boy. She has always been one of the boys. But after getting a speeding ticket her father makes her get a job. She gets a job in a clothing store where she is not allowed to wear sportswear. She also gets a job as a model for make up. Because of this she is exposed to everything that she thinks of as being girly. Her mother also died when she was six years old so she feels like she has no one to teach her what it really means to be a girl.

Charlie makes new friends through her job and suddenly she feels as if she is leading a double life. One life at home as a tomboy and another with her work friends as a feminine girl she knows her brothers would make fun of. Charlie has a hard time dividing these two lives. In one she makes herself stupid and lies about knowing everything about sports and pretends to be more girly than she is. In the other part of her life she keeps her second, girlier, life hid. She will not admit that she actually likes getting dressed up and doing her make up. The book show us how these two worlds slowly collides and how Charlie has to try find a balance between them.

This would not have been such a super summer read without some boy drama! Charlie is starting to get feelings for the neighbor boy Branden. They have known one another forever so she tries to ignore her feelings, but it is not working. Especially not with all the hugging, fence chats and play fights between them, it makes it harder for her to read his intentions as well. Dressed up after modeling for makeup she meets Evan who shows interest in her. But would he like her as much if he knew both sides of her life?

This was an adorable book that I just could not put down. Kasie West is quickly becoming one of my new favorite authors. The book is an easy and fast read, but it talks about themes like missing a parent, finding yourself and it has some boy drama mixed in. For me this was the perfect book for summer. Even though it might not be the best literary work I have ever read, it was still catching and I read it in one sitting. It made me feel so many different emotions: happy, sad, confused and mad. So five stars out of five from me!

5 / 5