Title: Ditched: A Love Story
Author: Robin Mellom
Release date: January 10, 2012
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Pages: 288
Source: Publisher

High school senior Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. So she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her.

Ian, who always passed her the baseball bat handle first.

Ian, who knew exactly when she needed red licorice.

Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom.

And then ditched her.

Now, as the sun rises over her small town, and with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven, Justina must piece together — stain by stain on her thrift-store dress — exactly how she ended up dateless. A three-legged Chihuahua was involved. Along with a demolition derby-ready Cadillac. And there was that incident at the tattoo parlor. Plus the flying leap from Brian Sontag’s moving car…

But to get the whole story, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. And discover if losing out at prom can ultimately lead to true love.

Ditched: A Love Story was the perfect book for me to start off my year of contemporaries.  It has everything: romance, humor, drama, and a little suspense.  It’s definitely one of those books you can’t put down until you know exactly what happened.

The story is told in alternating chapters: the day after and the night of prom.  The reader learns of the things that happened at and after prom by how each one relates to a rip, stain, bruise, or cut on Justina and her dress.  Each thing tells a story from prom and it all ties together to explain how Justina got ditched.  It was a fun, unique way to tell the story.

The characters are an eclectic mix and they really make this book as humorous as it is. Justina is funny, smart, and obsessed with kissing.  Her big flaw though is that she is very self-conscious.  She always worries about what others think of her. It tends to get in the way of things like sweet gestures and new friendships.  Ian is sweet, nice, and super cute.  He gets Justina and her sense of humor.  His big flaw is that he can be too nice and it gets in the way of things like romance.  Hailey only plays a small part but she is a good best friend.  The Mikes and their dates, Serenity and Bliss, are the most hilarious characters in the book.  They are always stoned but they are super nice and willing to spend their prom night helping Justina.  Serenity was the best though.  She was hilarious.  Super nice but also super fierce at times.  Gilda and Donna were two very odd people but they were willing to spend their morning sorting out things with Justina.  Donna’s views on men cracked me up more than once.  Each character really has their own lesson to impart and many lessons are learned throughout the book.

Overall, Ditched: A Love Story really is just that.  This book was perfect in every way.  It was fun and sweet and everyone needs to give it a shot!

Rating:  A