← Back to search
Cover of How Not to Spend Your Senior Year

How Not to Spend Your Senior Year

Cameron Dokey (2004)

SubgenreFairy Tale Retelling
Age groupYA 12-17
Content ratingPG
Pages (Quick Read (<250))
Setting
CSM age13
Goodreads3.65
Buy on Amazon ↗Buy on Bookshop.org ↗Buy on Apple Books ↗

Content levels

ViolenceNone
Sexual contentNone
LanguageNone

Trigger warnings

Abandonment

Positive tags

Coming of AgeFriendshipHeartwarmingSelf-DiscoveryHopeful Ending

Hero archetypes

Outcast / Loner

Heroine archetypes

Coming-of-Age HeroineFish out of Water

Protagonist archetypes

Coming-of-Age Protagonist

Tropes

Coming of AgeFish out of WaterFound Family

Themes

IdentityBelongingFriendshipFirst LoveTransience vs PermanenceLetting Down Walls

Synopsis

Jo O'Connor, accustomed to moving from place to place with her father, has learned not to get too close to people, but that changes in her senior year when she makes a best friend and falls in love--which only complicates matters when she is forced to move again.

Is How Not to Spend Your Senior Year appropriate for my child?

Suitable for most readers 13 and up.

Clean contemporary YA about a teen learning to open her heart despite a nomadic lifestyle. Romance is sweet and age-appropriate; focus is on friendship and emotional growth.

What to know going in

This book has no graphic violence, no sexual content, and clean language. Content notes include abandonment.

Who'll love this

A relatable story about making real connections when you've always been the new girl, with first love and friendship drama.

Tags

Contemporary FantasyRealistic FictionRomance