the first rule of flirt club has been broken*

Izzy (Cisco) and Annie (the Bean) are eighth grade drama geeks who in spite of being absolutely incredibly awesome, have no idea how to get boyfriends. Or even how to talk to boys, really. To combat this problem they start the Flirt Club, the purpose of which is to help them be less awkward around the opposite sex. Told through their notes to each other, Flirt Club tells the story of their wonderfully authentic and drama-geeky year.

And I love it - did I mention that? Not only do Cisco and the Bean remind me of me and the friends I had in middle school, not only are their problems real things that girls go through, but more than anything this story brought me right back to middle school and my own super-geeky times. Reading their notes to each other is like reading my journal, age 12, minus all the mortification that comes from knowing that actually happened to me. This book had me laughing out loud (for real) so many times and I just wanted Cisco and the Bean to be my best friends. The things that these girls are into aren't Justin Bieber or Hannah Montana, but stage productions and shows from the 60s. There are Star Trek references. The girls have secret agent numbers and that definitely has something to do with Get Smart. (You can just imagine my giddy, geeky happiness at finding this out.)

I love these girls. I love their story. I love the book. Because they're wonderfully quirky and great, because their friendship is honest and real, because there's an authentic level of geekdom here, because the whole book is hilarious, because their secret agent numbers are 88 and 66.


*The first rule of Flirt Club? Don't talk about Flirt Club, obviously.