All American Girl (novel)
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| Author | Meg Cabot |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | All-American Girl series |
| Genre(s) | Chick-lit |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Released | 2002 |
| Media Type | |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-330-41555-7 |
| Followed by | Ready or Not |
All American Girl is a book written by Meg Cabot for teenagers.
The story is about a girl named Samantha Madison who lives in Washington, D.C. She's a sophomore outcast at John Adams high school and has only one friend, Catherine. Sam is a huge fan of Gwen Stefani and often laments that she isn’t more like Gwen. Unlike Meg Cabot’s Mia Thermopolis in the The Princess Diaries, Sam is against popular culture and dyes her entire wardrobe black because she is “mourning for her generation.” She often feels inferior because her older sister, Lucy, is a cheerleader, and therefore one of the most popular girls in school, and her younger sister, Rebecca, is so intelligent that she takes college-level classes at a special school. Sam also believes she is in love with Lucy’s boyfriend Jack. Jack is the complete social opposite of big sister Lucy, having an artistist yet rebellious attitude to life claiming that teenagers need to 'fight the system'.
'All American Girl' starts with Sam getting caught selling celebrity portraits, which she creates in her German notebook. Her mom, an environmental lawyer, decides that if she is given an outlet for her creativity, Sam might get better than a C- in German. This reinforces Sam’s inferiority - she only took German because Lucy did. Her mother as a result, quickly puts her into a drawing class taught by a well-known artist, Susan Boone. She is compared to an elf queen by Sam upon first impressions and referred to as one throughout.
The first art lesson goes horribly wrong when Susan Boone, her art tracher, states that Sam cannot "draw what she sees". Taking Jack's advice about 'fighting the system', she decides she doesn’t want to come back to art class, especially since she embarrassed herself in front of the vaguely familiar David, another student in the class who seemed to pay attention to her - something Sam hasn't experienced before on accords of being referred to as a Satan worshipper. When Sam’s housekeeper Theresa drops her off, she waits until she leaves before spending the duration of her art class in the next-door music store. From here on, Sam notices a strange man listening to Billy Joel’s " Uptown Girl" over and over. He is referred to as Mr. Uptown Girl. When she leaves the music store, the president’s motorcade stops in front of the cookie store next door. The president (only referred to as Mr. President) walks into the cookie store. As she waits on the corner to be picked up, Mr. Uptown Girl begins to pull out a gun, ready to assainate the president. Sam instinctively distracts the man, breaking her arm in the process. Sam is immediately treated as a hero for saving the president's life. When Sam is allowed to meet the president and the first family, she realizes why David looks so familiar. He is the son of the president.
From here on, Sam's relationship with Jack and David ensues - since in her own mind she loves Jack, but is really falling for David.
[edit] Film rumors
There was a rumor of a film based on the book, starring Raven Symone as Samantha. Meg Cabot has now categorically stated on her website that Disney has no plans to make a film of All-American Girl, since the film rights have now returned to her and are not under option to any other producers.
[edit] Miscellaneous
- A sequel, Ready Or Not was released in 2005.
- All American Girl, 2003 (ISBN 0-330-41555-7)
