Every cool girl I know loves Jessica Darling.
Okay, so that might be an exaggeration, but it’s not that far from the truth. Jessica, the heroine of Megan McCafferty’s Sloppy Firsts and the four books that follow, is so perfectly flawed that most of us can’t help but love her. She’s funny, sardonic, smart, insecure and angsty. She’s hilarious and witty, but she can also be whiny and mopey. She’s not the girl you wanted to be in high school; she’s the girl you were.
Ever since Jessica’s best friend, Hope, moved to Tennessee, she’s been miserable. Hope was her best friend and the one person who actually understood her. Now Jessica’s stuck hanging around with her “friends” Manda, Sara and Bridget, also known as the Clueless Crew. Jessica also has to deal with her dad, who seems to only care about her performance at the latest track meet, and her mom, who apparently wishes Jessica was just a carbon copy of her vapid, wedding-obsessed brat of a big sister, Bethany. Between all of this, lusting after sexy senior Paul Parlipiano, being the class brainiac and wondering if she’s going to be a virgin her entire life, Jessica’s life starts to seem pretty sad. Until Marcus Flutie shows up.
Marcus Flutie. Where to even begin? Marcus Flutie’s bad behavior and mysterious reputation are irresistible to Jessica, who soon finds herself thinking about Marcus all the time. He gives Jessica’s boring and unhappy life a much needed jolt of Flutiefied electricity. Marcus is a poet, a secret genius, a former druggie and an all-around interesting guy who may or may not have had sex with upwards of 36 girls. Is he bad news or is he the only guy at Pineville who’s actually a match for Jessica?
Jessica’s feeling for Marcus (and his total swoonability) are completely believable. In high school, a friend of mine had the most insane crush on this guy who was in a band, didn’t get good grades, smoked and was really into metal music, even though I (I mean, my friend) was a nerdy honor student who’d never so much as touched a cigarette and was really into Ben Folds Five. The saying “opposites attract” isn’t just true for Paula Abdul and rapping cartoon cats; it applies to high school students as well. Smart, nerdy girls sometimes (let’s be honest: often) go for that sensitive rebel type, like Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You or Jess Mariano in Gilmore Girls. There’s something about a leather jacket and a book of poetry (or, in Marcus Flutie’s case, a Backstreet Boys t-shirt and a poem written on an origami mouth) that’s like kryptonite to girls who get straight A’s.
But Marcus Flutie isn’t the only reason that everyone loves Sloppy Firsts so much. Jessica Darling herself takes most of the credit for that. Like a lot of girls, I think Jessica and I are kindred spirits, although there are some crucial differences. I actually liked my high school friends, for example, and I was never even 1/10th as athletic as Jessica is (somewhere, my elementary school gym teacher is laughing at me right now). But it isn’t the details that endear Jessica to us; it’s the universal high school feelings. Most of us have felt like no one really gets us, or like we can’t talk to anyone or like our family just doesn’t understand who we are. Jessica isn’t a popular girl or a stock-character nerd; she’s a regular girl who worries about boys and sex and friends and school. Most of all, she worries about herself, and wonders why she doesn’t like the dumb jocks or have fun at the stupid parties like everyone else does. Jessica Darling is just herself, in all her awkward, uncomfortable glory, and that’s why we like her so much.
Some Highlights:
-Barry Manilow is practically a recurring character in the Jessica Darling series, and let me tell you, I don’t hate it. Listen, you guys, maybe I love Barry Manilow. Maybe I own Ultimate Manilow and I listen to it sometimes when I’m having a bad day. Maybe I’ve said I want to use Barry Manilow’s Can’t Smile Without You as my first dance at my hypothetical wedding because, even though it’s kind of a break up song, I just find it very romantic. Maybe I actually really love Barry Manilow, okay? Don’t judge me!
-Once you read Sloppy Firsts, you’ll definitely want to read the other four books. Jessica dates some weird dudes, and things get kind of dark for awhile but there’s more Marcus Flutie so don’t worry, everyone! Also, Megan McCafferty never allows the plot lines to grow boring or the characters to get stale; everyone changes in some pretty drastic ways.
-Megan McCafferty recently announced that there are new Jessica Darling books on the way. Hallelujah!
-Here’s a Sloppy Firsts playlist Megan McCafferty put together. It’s pretty much perfect…The Sundays? My favorite Dolly Parton song? Only You by Yaz, also known as the song that plays during very romantic and dramatic scenes in Can’t Hardly Wait and The Office? This basically feels like a playlist I put together for myself (also, if these are your favorite songs too, let’s be best friends, please).
Have you read Sloppy Firsts and the rest of the Jessica Darling series? Are you looking forward to the new Jessica Darling books? Are you totally in love with Marcus Flutie? Let me know in the comments! And, as always, I love to hear your suggestions for books to cover in Young Adult Education. Leave a comment, e-mail me at youngadulteducation@gmail.com or find me on Twitter @KerryAnn.
Image via Goodreads
Maybe I need to re read them! i LOVED the 1st 2nd and 3rd, but then the 4th came out, and there was so much time between them all that I felt like it was too big of a jump and I couldn’t get into it! I was super bummed too. but seriously I LOVED loved loved the 1st 3 and I ( working at a bookstore) constantly pushed them on people. I don’t think I even purchased the 5th one
I loved the books, but the earlier ones more. I fond that I grew to dislike Marcus a lot and thought Jessica deserved better.
Oh me oh my, I love these books.
Of all the books I have read, these are definitely my favorite. I am very surprised that these books aren’t a movie. Probably because there are no men in real life that could play Marcus Flutie!!
My favorite thing about the JD books is her amazing way with words! Megan McCafferty is a genius the way that every line is a beautiful work of snappy wordsmithing that you want to say to yourself over and over again… hard to describe but very magnetic.
Oh my god. Sloppy Firsts (and everything after) is my life. I’m still in high school, and literally Jessica Darling is me (except I’m not that angry all the time). THANK YOU SO MUCH for this post. It gives the JD’s of the world a kindred spirit and some hope.
I LOVE the Jessica Darling series! It was my bible in high school and I’m so excited Megan is writing more. I thought she would stop after the last one. This article is so genius, thanks for pointing out how awesome Sloppy Firsts & more is, seriously one of the best YA series (if not the best) out there. Megan McCafferty is such an amazing writer.
Omg I loved this series so much. I always thought they would make great movies too!
I would LOVE to see a Sloppy Firsts movie!
Eeeeeeeeeee Megan McCafferty tweeted youuuu…YA geeking out
For. Real. I wish I could go back in time and tell this to high school me. I’d have a lot of other things to explain though, like what Twitter and HelloGiggles are.
Marcus Flutie is my fictional crush… I know it’s sad but I actually do compare guys I meet to him and I once used a Marcus Flutie pick up line on a guy to get a conversation started. Me: “did you know people spend 5 years of their life waiting for red lights to turn green?”
Other YA book suggestions to review: The Fault In Our Stars- John Green
If only there were real Marcus Fluties in the world. I l-o-v-e The Fault in Our Stars…I cried. A lot.
The Jess Darling series has been my absolute favorite YA series since early high school… I’m 22 and just did my fourth or fifth re-read of the books. They are still my favorite. Hopefully someday I’ll have a daughter who loves to read – these books will be the first YA books I hand her, especially since Megan McCafferty is writing middle-level books about Jessica!
I think about giving these books to my future hypothetical children, too! Those will be some lucky kids.
So true! I started the series when I was 15 and finished up when I was in my early 20s. I grew up with Jessica Darling, Marcus Flutie, and all the random hilarious friends throughout. I loved every minute of it. I’m excited about the middle grade books, now more girls can love Jessica and grow up with her too. To this day I push this series on people. It’s one of my all time favorites.
I push the books on all of my friends, too! Everyone needs to know how awesome it is.