THE SMART THING Is to Prepare for the Unexpected.
So reads the fortune cookie fortune that Amanda receives at the beginning of her familyтАЩs vacation to Florida. Amanda knows all about preparing for the unexpectedтАФher mother, whom she calls The Captain, is always hard on Amanda, and itтАЩs just when Amanda lets her guard down that the very worst comes through. Looking for acceptance, Amanda turns her attention to boys, and doing whatever she can to be popular at school. That includes making out with the gorgeous senior Rick in his car after schoolтАФeven though he has a girlfriend. And when Rick offers her The DealтАФa real, official date to the Homecoming in front of everyone, in exchange for her virginityтАФAmanda jumps at the chance. But no matter how you try to prepare for the unexpected, sometimes you canтАЩt. Sharp, chatty, and brutally honest, this debut novel is compulsively readable and heartbreakingly real.