Status
Available
Genres
Publication
New York : Hyperion, c2008.
Description
Albert Kim sees it as a miracle that popular, beautiful Mia Stone finds him worthy of her attention, but when her ex, Ryan Stackhouse, announces he has cancer, Mia is torn between being there for Ryan and her feelings for Albert.
User reviews
LibraryThing member welkinscheek
Albert is the ultimate introverted teen. His dramatic mental meanderings are way too familiar...
In this hilarious book, due out in October of this year, Albert is such a stereotype he makes himself sick. His parents are Korean immigrants who’ve set a standard for achievement in America that,
In this hilarious book, due out in October of this year, Albert is such a stereotype he makes himself sick. His parents are Korean immigrants who’ve set a standard for achievement in America that,
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while intimidating, Albert manages to match fairly effortlessly. It’s all about fitting in, and Albert is crestfallen when he learns he is to move from the town where he has finally managed to gain an admirable level of popularity, to some podunk hamlet in Massachusetts. Within his first week of high school, a few unfortunate social fopahs lead Albert to conclude that he is doomed to loserdom and he might as well tune-out of the social scene. He manages to travel through two years of high school completely under the social radar, until the summer before his junior year when he finds himself working closely with the female half of the school’s “it” couple, Mia, except she has broken up with her boyfriend and depends on Albert to cheer her up. Albert is amazed to learn by the end of the summer that he and Mia are “something,” but he worries that “something” will not translate to the high school hallways. Albert has learned to cope with his status as high school persona non grata by retreating into his own, introverted and amazingly perceptive world. His emergence into his peers’ social strata is more like the proverbial bull in the china shop than the butterfly and the cocoon. This book is filled with sensitive, silly, self-deprecating humor, and is a nice, clean (though frequently frustrating) romance. Show Less
LibraryThing member theepicrat
I could definitely picture Albert as an awkward boy trying to fit in to impress the girl. I appreciated his attempts at humor and winced as they fell flat with his audience. He tried hard to be the patient and understanding boyfriend as Mia nursed Ryan to health, and I wanted to knock some sense
I had expecting this to be a little funnier, and I am sad that it failed in that aspect. While Albert did make some weak jokes, his narration seemed a tad too serious with not enough humor.
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into Mia as she continually chose Ryan over Albert without fully realizing how it was damaging her relationship with Albert.I had expecting this to be a little funnier, and I am sad that it failed in that aspect. While Albert did make some weak jokes, his narration seemed a tad too serious with not enough humor.
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LibraryThing member elleseven
Albert Kim is Korean, a teenager, and a loser who has taken himself out of high school society. He gets to know Mia Stone, a classmate and the coolest girl in school, at their summer job vacuuming rooms at a local inn. An unlikely friendship turns into an even more unlikely romance, which turns
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sour when school starts again and Mia's ex-boyfriend is diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. Funny and frustrating, like high school. Show Less
LibraryThing member jentifer
First off - I loved this narrator. Sure, he was so immature that he made you cringe much of the time. Just like you'll yell "Don't go in there!" to a girl in a horror movie you'll want to sew up Albert's tongue half the time: making him unable to do or say one of the hundreds of things he does or
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says throughout the book. I think that's what I loved so much about this book - it was such a spot on representation of how dumb and self centered some boys and girls can be at (ahem) some ages. The last 50 pages or so lagged and I'm not sure the ending was very satisfying, but it's worth checking out if only to read the first few chapters. The descriptions of Albert's physical reactions to being in the same room as a hot girl are some of the funniest most heartfelt bits of teen lit I've ever read. Besides the hot-girl-syndrome effects, my favorite source of comedy and pain in this book are Albert's trying to do well Korean parents. He's the first Korean-American in the family and Alberts shares some really great insights. Trying to pin down the time/setting for this book is difficult, but based on the music, clothing and attitudes, I'd set it in the mid-90s. I'm going to put a hold on Yoo's other YA book, Girls for Breakfast, right now! Show Less
LibraryThing member twonickels
Albert is one of the most consistently unlikeable narrators I have ever encountered, and he goes through almost no character growth over the course of the novel. This is a very difficult hurdle for any book to get over, and Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before is not able to overcome. Despite
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some excellent characterization, interesting situations, and fine writing from Mr. Yoo, Albert's complete and total inability to see anything beyond his own wants and needs makes sympathy for Albert hard to come by. I was only able to make it to the end of the book by imagining Albert's eventual growth, but it didn't ever happen. The one part of the book that I did truly enjoy was Albert's summer working with Mia. When Albert's life is going well, he is funny and charming. Show Less
Awards
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Teens (Fiction — 2008)