Hot Dog Girl

by Jennifer Dugan

A fresh and funny contemporary YA rom-com about teens working as costumed characters in a local amusement park.

Elouise (Lou) Parker is determined to have the absolute best, most impossibly epic summer of her life. There are just a few things standing in her way:

She's landed a job at Magic Castle Playland . . . as a giant dancing hot dog.

Her crush, the dreamy diving pirate Nick, already has a girlfriend, who is literally the princess of the park. But Lou's never liked anyone, guy or otherwise, this much before, and now she wants a chance at her own happily ever after.

Her best friend, Seeley, the carousel operator, has always been up for anything, but she's decidedly not on board when it comes to Lou's quest to set her up with the perfect girl or Lou's scheme to get close to Nick.

And it turns out that this will be their last summer at Magic Castle Playland—ever—unless she can find a way to stop it from closing.

Jennifer Dugan's sparkling debut coming-of-age queer romance stars a princess, a pirate, a hot dog, and a carousel operator who find love—and themselves—in unexpected people and unforgettable places.

• ISBN10: 0525516271
• ISBN13: 9780525516279
• Publish Date: 24 March 2020 (first published 30 April 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Penguin USA
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780525516279

Reviews

[maggiefan]

4.5 rounded up because this was literally perfect.
Btw, everyone who says that this book is biphobic needs to stop, for real. Fake dating here happened not because "I hope I'll attract this boy if he thinks that I'm dating a girl". It started out because the MC wanted to make Nick jealous. Not that I think that it was the right thing to do, but this is the exact bi chaotic dumb energy that I relate to and support, so...

[Angie]

Hot Dog Girl is the chronicles of Elouise's best summer ever. She has a great job at an amazing theme park. Her crush is finally going to notice her. She's going to have fun in the sun with her BFF. Of course, that's not what happens. She's assigned to be the dancing hot dog again, and the park is closing after this season. Her crush is still with his on-and-off again girlfriend. And things get complicated with said BFF.

I liked Hot Dog Girl. It was super cute, but Elouise's thought processes were so baffling that I had trouble believing them. This is an established character flaw for her though. Everyone points out that her plans make no sense, and that she is an odd schemer, no matter the situation. To get close to her crush, she pretends to date her BFF, because...I don't know. No one knows. But I like fake dating and this was an original twist. Then she decides to start a GoFundMe and hold a bake sale to "save" the theme park, without knowing why it's actually closing (hint: it's not money!). It all works out in the end though.

I did love how committed to this theme park Elouise is. I'm sure most of us have this special place that would devastate us if it ever closed. She does some questionable things in her plotting to keep the park open, but I did believe how much she wanted it to stay open. She manages to get a few of the other summer employees to help her out, but like I said, they pointed out that her plan isn't the best since she doesn't even know why it's closing.

In the end, Hot Dog Girl is cute. Elouise is bisexual and uses the word! There is a kind of bisexual love triangle, since she has a crush on Nick, but starts fake dating her lesbian BFF, Seely. I'm sure you can guess how this turns out, but I won't spoil it.

[mrs_mander_reads]

Super cute!

[Sam@WLABB]

Elouise was determined to have an epic summer. She was excited to be returning to Magic Castle Playland, where she would be able to work alongside her best friend, Seeley, and her current crush, Nick. It all quickly begins to fall apart, and in an attempt to save her summer from ruin, she begins scheming on ways to save the park and make Nick fall for her. But, as with all the best-laid plans, this one may backfire.

You see that cover? You see how fun it looks? Well, it's a great representation of this book, which was a ton of fun to read. There were all sorts of summertime and amusement park antics, which I expected. I mean, imagine the view of things from inside a giant hot dog. The fun was enhanced via the thoughts and narration of Elouise. I found her rather amusing, and though she sometimes failed to see the forest for the trees, I still adored her in all her awkward glory.

But, Dugan gave me more than fun, fun, fun. There were some weightier issues each character was dealing with, such as bullying, abandonment, and sick relatives. So, to answer your question: yes, there were tears.

Speaking of the characters, this book featured one fine cast. I found each character stood out on their own, while also meshing together so well. I loved Seeley. The friendship she gave to Elouise was a beautiful thing. And, Nick ending up really surprising me in a most wonderful way. Even dad touched me at one point. I just loved them all.

Overall: A warm-and-fuzzy inducing rom-com topped off with a fabulous happy ever after.

BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS

[limabean74]

This was such a cute book and so funny. I just love the MC she was so goofy and lovable with a hint of annoying. I really like it. :)

[katie]

Full review to be published soon at http://kaitplusbooks.com, but in the meantime just know that I am currently smiling uncontrollably and also about to be late for work because I decided I needed to finish this before I left.
😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍