This book is the first I've ever seen with a suggested rating of "12 and over"--and rightly so. I bought the entire series after watching the Disney movie and reading the first book, which was WHOLESOME in comparison to the following books in this series. I'm happy I took the time to read them myself before passing them on to children. Personally, I would like to warn those who would be offended to learn that through this series your child will be influenced by;
1.) A feminist and promiscuous mother that sleeps with her daughter's Algebra teacher.
2.) Mother that also has unprotected sex with said teacher and concieves his baby out of wedlock.
3.) Mother that encourages her daughter to make an appointment with her gyno and have "safe sex".
4.) Mother that relates her own first sexual encounter to her daughter at 15!
5.) A college boyfriend that tells the main character that he will not wait forever for her to "Do It".
6.) Next door neighbor named Ronnie who just underwent a sex change from a man to a woman.
7.) Grandmere who constantly drinks and smokes and implies that her grandaughter should put out.
8.) A passel of teenage freinds with hormones raging amuck and ample details and scenerios of "frenching", groping, "making out" etc...
9.) Main character later finds out that her boyfriend has already had sex with another schoolmate and then feels pressured to do so as well.
I didn't read the last two books in this series because I was completely disgusted by how Meg Cabot hit the vein of what sells to teens; S-E-X. She's making a mint off of those parents who don't really care what kind of trash molds their children.
And, yes. I am aware that this is the reality of the world we live in. I, as a parent, chose to make sure that it is NOT THE REALITY OF MY CHILDREN, however.