The Treasure Map of Boys. E. Lockhart. 2009. Random House. 256 pages.
I just LOVED this book. The Treasure Map of Boys is the third in the Ruby Oliver series by E. Lockhart. And there is something about Ruby that I just love. It's sad but true that while I have really, really enjoyed each Ruby Oliver book that I've read, I don't really like any of Lockhart's other books. I've read How To Be Bad, Dramarama, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and Fly on the Wall. But none of them come close to matching the charm of The Boyfriend List and The Boy Book. For me. (I think the other books have plenty of fans. I know most readers--at least in the blogging world--just absolutely loved Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. But I didn't.)
So I loved this one. Ruby Oliver has been having trouble for a couple of years now. Trouble keeping friends. Trouble keeping her reputation. Trouble with boys who sometimes like her, sometimes not. With boys who flirt only now and then. With a certain boy who leaves the occasional frog in her locker. Boys like Jackson, Noel, Finn, Hutch, and Gideon. Though some of those boys are more problematic than others. The most problematic? Noel and Jackson. (Noel is her lab partner and Jackson is her ex-boyfriend.)
In The Treasure Map of Boys, Ruby has to make a tough decision. She really, really likes Noel. He seems to really like her in return. At least some of the time. (He does send mixed signals.) But there is a problem. Nora is one of Ruby's only friends. (Ruby only has two girls who will talk to her.) And Nora "claimed" Noel first. She was the first to announce how much she liked him. And to Nora that's the end of it. It doesn't matter if Ruby likes him too. If Noel in fact likes Ruby a lot more than he likes her. She thinks that Ruby would be a horrible, horrible person if she were to pursue Noel. So should Ruby choose Nora over Noel?
Of course, that's just a little of what The Treasure Map of Boys is all about. It's a funny romantic comedy. I just loved the humor! Ruby is a GREAT narrator!
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
1 comment:
Oh, thank you for the review! I read THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY OF FRANKIE LANDAU-BANKS and was decidedly nonplussed. I'll have to check out the Ruby books, though, and see if they speak to me as they did to you.
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