Confessions of a Wannabe Cheerleader

Confessions of a Wannabe Cheerleader (Cheer #1)

Zoe Evans, illustrated by Brigette Barrager

Simon Spotlight, 2011

$6.99, Paperback

978-1442422414

March 18^th, 2012

Genre: Realistic, Romance, Humor, Sports

Age: 8+

Description: Madison Hays has always had one goal in life—to be a Titan cheerleader just like her mom. Unfortunately, a botched tryout doesn’t help the years of practice and cheer camps when she gets placed on the B-squad—the Grizzly Bears—the place where the rejects go and cheer on wrestling matches and chess tournaments. Madison attempts to do the best to try and make the Grizzlies no longer be the laughing stock of the entire school in hopes that maybe, just maybe, the Titans will see she really does have the skills and invite her to join.

Opinion: Told in diary format (with a written font as well) the first in a new series follows the first three months after Maddy gets on the B-team. She has two best friends who are anti-popularity—Laine, an artsy girl, and Evan, a comic book geek. With the help of Jacqi, a girl who gets kicked off the Titans over a misunderstanding, as new co-captain and Maddy’s mom as their new coach the team just might finally get some respect. Maddy, using her other love of fashion design, creates new uniforms for the Grizzlies and even gets to stand in for a cheerleader on the Titan team at a soccer game. In the end, she also gets checked out by Bevan—the cut jock she’s been crushing on. The background of the diary format is the thing I hate the most about the book—it’s like a diary written on graph paper which is a bit distracting. The story, otherwise, is fast-paced. Maddy is the non-stereotypical girl cheerleader (she’s not blonde, not popular, etc.) which is a nice touch and makes the series more relatable to non-sports types and the illustrations abound in the story and really add to the hilarity that is Maddy’s life.