Handshake in Space: The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Book

Janie's first few weeks of high school haven't exactly lived up to her dreams. All of her friends have different classes, and she has been marked as an outcast ever since she came to school with goat poo on her shoes. Janie wants to be "normal", which is hard when your parents are hippy-esque farmers. On her journey to get to the magical land of boyfriends, football games, and parties, Janie gets a little....lost. She learns to play the bass, is arrested for trespassing, steals a giant wooden cross, and befriends a rather large boy named Monster (thats his real name). Pretty soon Janie is so past normal, she may actually be where she is meant to be.

Do not assume too much from this book. It's clean, quirky, and perfect for younger teens. It was delightful, easy, and light.

But it was nothing more than that. It was not hysterical. It was not ridiculous. It was not so truthful that it ached. It was like a water-downed Stargirl, or an unfunny Dairy Queen.

It was fine. Nothing was blatantly wrong or flawed with it, but if you compare it to other books in the same vein, it just doesn't hold up.

However, I do think middle school girls would like it. Perhaps it will give them insight on what to expect in the next few years. It's not really scandalous enough to be enjoyable for high school kids, I think, who want some more dirty drama.

Thank you, S&S Galleygrab for providing me with a copy.