Shut Out (Kody Keplinger)

Title: Shut Out

Author: Kody Keplinger

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Length: 273 pages

Rating: 4/5

Sports and YA books? My two favorite things!

Here is a summary of the book from the mouth of the author (from her blog): SHUT OUT is a story about Lissa, a senior in high school, who decides to put an end to a decade old rivalry between her school's football and soccer teams after her quarterback boyfriend ditches her a few too many times on behalf of hazing the other team. Her plan is to start a sex strike - gathering the girlfriends of all the players of both teams and agreeing that none of them will hookup with their boyfriends until the rivalry is over. What follows is an all out battle of the sexes as the girls begin to explore issues of teen sexuality and the boys attempt to seduce the girls into breaking their oath. Lissa is determined to win, but she never expects the sexual tension that rises between she and Cash Sterling, a member of the soccer team and leader of the boys' side.

I like that this book doesn’t shy away from anything. It openly discusses double standards, sex, peer-pressure and more. And not in a preachy way, but in a girls chatting at a slumber party kind of way. And it’s all part of a funny story where a group of girls team up to get their boyfriends to behave. And of course, there’s some great sexual tension thrown in there too. Lissa is a little obnoxiously controlling at times, but she has to learn to loosen up a little in life. I'm willing to forgive my narrator because she does grow some in the end. 

You'll learn, you'll cringe, you'll celebrate, and with a hot guy named Cash involved, how could you not enjoy this book?