Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink -- Stephanie Kate Strohm

I hadn't read a straight-up chick-lit rom-com in ages, and I'd forgotten just how much fun they can be.

Despite the best efforts of her best friend to convince her to go to New York City with him while he interns at a teen fashion magazine, Libby Kelting is leaving Minnesota to spend the summer before her senior year in Camden Harbor, Maine, interning at the Museum of Maine and the Sea. She'll be wearing 1791-era garb, teaching young campers about the daily life of colonial Americans, and hopefully, in her off-time, spending time at the beach in one of the many (many, many, many) cute outfits that she's dragging halfway across the country with her.

Things she didn't count on: an enormously judgmental, slut-shaming roommate; a uniform for when she's not in costume; a super-hot sailor who spouts Shakespeare and looks VERY nice while chopping wood; getting roped into sharing EXTREMELY cramped quarters with a VERY irritating budding journalist who's on a ghost hunt.

Pros:

• Oh, where to start? I cackled all the way through this one. For instance:
  
  "Listen, Garrett—"
  "Why do you keep saying my name like it's in air quotes?" he interrupted.
  "What are you talking about?" I snapped.
  "You keep saying 'Garrett' like it's allegedly my name."
  "Maybe because it's not a name, but a small Parisian attic where writers live?"
  "Oh, as opposed to a brand of canned pumpkin owned by the Nestle corporation?" he shot back.
  We glared at each other.
  
  Ahahahahahaha. Anyway, she and Garrett are very obviously well-suited to each other, and their sparring is just as entertaining as their inevitable lurrrve-falling. Also, Libby's campers are HILARIOUS. 
• Libby is a genuine history nerd, and as her focus is on fashion and the domestic arts, there are LOADS of interesting factual tidbits. Also, she's a wonderful example of a character who is a 'girly-girl' AND whip-smart, so yay to Strohm for that. Bonus: When it comes down to it, Libby is perfectly capable of fighting her own battles. Literally. So yay to Strohm for that, too!
• Along those lines, there are some great threads about being judgemental/making assumptions about people: because Libby is interested in fashion and in boys, her roommate immediately jumps to the conclusion that Libby is an airheaded moron with red bottomosity. At the same time, Libby judges Garrett for his love of science fiction, so no-one is entirely without fault in that department—which is good, because few people are!

Cons:

• Cam and most of the rest of the dudebros are totally two-dimensional stereotypes. And actually, Libby's bestie Dev is also pretty two-dimensional, but I gave him a pass because he was rad.

Nutshell:

PINK-LOVING GIRLS CAN BE SMART, TOO!, or,

Behind the scenes of Austenland, starring YA characters.

Either way, GIVE ME THE SEQUEL RIGHT NOW.

_______________________________________________

Book source: ILLed through my library.

Comments

[Jennie]

Ok--Red Bottomosity made my day. THE ACE GANG LIVES!

[Leila]

YES, THEY DO: FOREVER! <3

[Liviania]

Dev gets more dimension in the sequel, which is totally rad. (The sequel, not the character development, although both are good things, really.)

[Leila]

Oh, good! As I said, I really did enjoy him regardless. I'm planning on ILLing it at work today. Thanks! :)

[Angela]

My library very happily had this available as an e-book, so I snagged it after reading your review. I'm almost halfway through and I can't stop SMILING, ugh, everything is so swoony. This was just what I needed in my life, I'm so glad you recced it!

[marjorie]

Just put a hold on it. Sounds DELISH. (Like Libby canned pumpkin WHICH I LIKE.)

[Leila]

@Angela: I LOVE IT. I esssssspecially love the "ugh"! :D

@marjorie: ENJOY!

[sprite]

I read this right after the Cybils and it was the perfect recovery read. Now that the sequel is out, I should really track it down. Thanks for the reminder!