Going Vintage

Sixteen-year-old Mallory is shocked to learn that her boyfriend, Jeremy, is emotionally cheating on her with a "cyber wife." After things get ugly on Friendspace (the book's Facebook equivalent), Mallory decides to go on a technology fast, convinced that modern conveniences are responsible for her misery. A to-do list her grandmother made at age sixteen, in 1962, provides the perfect inspiration for a simpler life, with such items as "Run for pep squad secretary," "Sew a dress for homecoming," and "Find a steady." So Mallory starts a school pep club with the help of Jeremy's cousin, Oliver; takes a sewing lesson; and tries to find a boyfriend (for her sister), all without using the internet or her cell phone. As Mallory checks off list items -- with surprising and often hilarious results -- and navigates some family dramas, she realizes that she's actually an interesting person apart from Jeremy. And as she gets to know Oliver, she discovers that he thinks so, too. Mallory's experiences will help readers cope with their own breakups and undoubtedly make them think about their own tethers to smartphones and social media. But the novel's most important -- and comforting -- lesson is that sometimes being a teenager sucks, no matter what decade you live in. As Mallory's grandmother tells her, "Adolescence is the same tragedy being performed again and again. The only things that change are the stage props." rachel l. smith