Kissing Kate

by Lauren Myracle

Sixteen-year-old Lissa's relationship with her best friend changes after they kiss at a party and Lissa does not know what to do, until she gets help from an unexpected new friend. whose name is ariel. they are co-workers.

• ISBN10: 0142402419
• ISBN13: 9780142402412
• Publish Date: 18 November 2004 (first published 14 April 2003)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 19 July 2021
• Publish Country: IN
• Imprint: Penguin Random House India
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 198
• Language: English

Reviews

[clementine]

I must have been about 11 or 12 the first time I read this book, and I really loved it then. Now, though, I'm more critical, and I definitely don't love it.

Having read Myracle's Shine this year, I couldn't help but compare the two books a bit. They really aren't very similar, but they both had the unfortunate quality of having a fantastic premise involving LGBTQ characters that I didn't feel was explored in nearly enough depth.

With Kissing Kate in particular, I just never felt like Myracle really went into Lissa's emotions enough. There were all these subplots - Beth's friend Vanessa, Jerry courting Sophie, Finn and Ariel - and I think they took away from Lissa's inner struggle a bit. It all seemed a bit shallow, considering she was going through a huge crisis what with falling in love with her best friend and all.

I think "shallow" is probably the best word to describe this book. I certainly didn't hate it, and there was undeniably something there. I think that for younger teens, this book could be pretty important. But for me, it was a bit "meh".