The book 16 Isn’t Always Sweet, immediately caught my eye just by reading the back cover. I know from watching my sister grow older, that turning sixteen is the stage of a girl’s life where they believe they’ve stepped into womanhood. You start developing more, and begin to really find out the inner you.
This book was not just a summer reading project, but also was a guide for me, for when I turn sixteen because it taught me that not only are we changing physically, and mentally, but also socially. We may not realize it now, but most of the people we hang around now, and consider our “best friend” could soon become our enemy over a small course of time. In this book, the main character, Jordan Wright had a sixteenth birthday and finally felt as if things in her life were beginning to fall into place. When shopping at the mall with her best friend Adrienne, they were stopped by a guy offering them a chance to audition to be in their favorite rapper, Jaiden Brown’s new video. Jordan was eager to rush home and tell her parents the great news, but was surprised when they told her she was not allowed to attend. When the audition rolled around, she was so eager to meet her Hollywood dream boyfriend, that she disobeyed her parents, and went anyway. After auditioning, Jordan and Adrienne were both anxious to find out if they were going to premiere in Jaiden’s video. In the end, Jordan ended up making the cuts, and Adrienne did not. Adrienne seemed cool with it until Jordan began to get more attention, and the jealously began to build up inside of Adrienne. From that point on, it became very clear that Jordan and Adrienne had gone from being best friends to enemies. Adrienne took things to the extreme, and began spreading nasty rumors, embarrassing her in from of large crowds of people, and doing everything in her power to make sure Jordan’s life was hell.
As the year went on, Jordan’s reputation went from being the “it” girl, to the laughing stock of the school. The more Adrienne taunted Jordan, the lower her self-esteem went, and the harder it was for her to enjoy school, and her social life. Closer towards the end of the story, Jordan realized that she didn’t have to worry about whether or not the people like her, or were talking about her. She realized that she had to like herself before the people around her would begin to like her. This taught me a huge lesson on self confidence and to watch the things I tell my friends. It was an extremely interesting and enjoyable book to read, which made it easier to get into and finish faster.

This book was one of the best books I have ever read. It was written by a teenager so I felt like I could relate to some of the situations. When the main character, Jordan, and her bestfriend got into a big fight and stopped talking to each other, that reminded me about some of my former friends. Then when her ex-bestfriend spread rumors about her, I knew all girls go through that. I would recommend this book for teenage girls who have problems with thier friends. There are 443 pages. ( )