Pants on Fire

I just finished reading Meg Cabot’s book, Pants on Fire. As I read the last line of the book, all I could think was, I want a Tommy Sullivan! This is the age-old story of the pretty, popular girl and her best friend who is in love with her, except that in this story, there is a twist. Tommy Sullivan, Katie’s best friend had been run out of town four years earlier for mysterious reasons. Bit by bit, the reader is able to piece together what really happened the night Tommy Sullivan is a Freak was spraypainted onto the middle school’s new gymnasium.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire. Katie can’t help lying about almost everything in her life. It’s so much easier than telling the truth, but after Tommy Sullivan comes back to town the lies get knotted into a labyrinth that is too big for Katie to get out of. First, Katie is beginning to realize that she might not really love her boyfriend of four years, Seth, the Quahog football star. Second, she can’t let anyone know that she has a secret boyfriend, Eric, the drama club star, who she doesn’t love either. And third, she can’t tell anyone that she has an uncontrollable longing to kiss Tommy Sullivan, the boy that everyone in Eastport, Connecticut hates.

Through the story, Katie learns when it is right to tell the truth, and when the truth should be held back. She learns that although going against town traditions might disappoint her family and her friends, it is not right for some people to get special treatment. The secrets and guilt that she has been hiding for four years must eventually come out, and the return of Tommy Sullivan helps them along. While this story could be viewed as run of the road because of the basic story line, it is made interesting because of the mystery of what happened that night for years ago, and the fact that when nerdy, short, Tommy Sullivan comes back to town, he is ubelieveably HOT. After reading this book, every girl will start looking for their Tommy Sullivan.