Book Review: Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan

Love and Other Foreign Words
Author:  Erin McCahan
Publisher:  Dial Books, 336 pages
Publication Date:  May 1, 2014

From Goodreads:
Sixteen-year-old Josie lives her life in translation. She speaks High School, College, Friends, Boyfriends, Break-ups, and even the language of Beautiful Girls. But none of these is her native tongue--the only people who speak that are her best friend Stu and her sister Kate. So when Kate gets engaged to an epically insufferable guy, how can Josie see it as anything but the mistake of a lifetime? Kate is determined to bend Josie to her will for the wedding; Josie is determined to break Kate and her fiancé up. As battles are waged over secrets and semantics, Josie is forced to examine her feelings for the boyfriend who says he loves her, the sister she loves but doesn't always like, and the best friend who hasn't said a word--at least not in a language Josie understands.

Review:

Love and Other Foreign Words is a smart, quirky, and fun coming-of-age novel about Josie.  Josie is a genius (she skipped second grade, started taking college classes as a high school sophomore so she splits her time between high school and college), and she's described as fifteen going on thirty (although sometimes going on twelve).  And that description is perfect because she's incredibly articulate and analytical, knowing everything about everything, but at the same time she's so stupid when it comes to people and very naive when it comes to love, having never had a boyfriend.  She's constantly translating the different languages people speak, since she falls into different groups (high school. college, friends, family, teammates, etc.) and she feels like she has to pretend around everyone, except her family and her best friend, Stu.  I found this focus on language to be fascinating.  We do talk differently depending on who we're talking to. 

"The language of high school could be called Ohmig*d since just about everyone says it a hundred times a day."

"I can speak the languages of lots of groups and learn others with some ease, but no matter how fluent I am, when I'm not speaking Josie, I am merely acting."

"There are certain foreign words and phrases I just can't reproduce, and shrieking is one of them.  Woo-hooing is another.  These things have never and will never sound authentic coming out of my mouth, so I don't even attempt them."

I loved loved loved this book!  I enjoyed Josie, even when she was being a brat. She's unique.  For instance, she'd rather spend time making brownies with her eighty-one year old neighbor than go to a party. She loves her sisters and her parents.  In fact, the family dynamic is a huge part of the book, with the main conflict being that Josie absolutely hates Kate's fiancé and doesn't understand how Kate can love him.  This leads her to think about love, especially romantic love, and it was refreshing to read a YA book where the main character really contemplates this subject.  Josie's voice is fresh and funny and I found myself laughing out loud many times.  

And the romance in this book.  It comes out of nowhere, but then it doesn't. It's perfect, absolutely perfect.

I could go on and on but I'll just say this:  Read this book!  It will make you think…and smile.

Posted by:  Pam