This silly, offbeat novel warns all readers: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR! A.J. McCreary, photographer extraordinaire, lovelorn, and invisible to school hunk, Peter Terris, is unable to capture a fitting cover shot for the school paper's special Valentine's Day edition. Then, she stumbles upon a stuffed cupid who comes to life and offers her one of three alluring choices: artistic, academic, or romantic assistance. In spite of the cupid's vehement protests against the last and his admitted previous failure in the arena of teen love, A.J. follows her heart. After Peter is smitten, and her date for the King of Hearts dance is secure, she finds that his slathering, abject devotion and unrestrained attention embarrass her, and that he is boring. Like Ellie in Bauer's Squashed (Delacorte, 1992), A.J. is a witty, intelligent protagonist whose fresh perceptions of her peers keep readers chuckling. In the end, a brilliant newspaper cover shot convinces her former-filmmaker father of her talent and makes the novel's ultimate statement about young romance.

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I've read several of Joan Bauer's books and have enjoyed them all. I was not disappointed with this one. I was interested by the concept, it's hard to do a story with a cupid and make it seem realistic. But Bauer pulled it off. The way she captures the teenage experience is always honest. This book is a nice cure to those of us who are still looking for Mr. Perfect. Be careful what you wish for...

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Fun take on the be careful what you wish for theme. When avid photographer and aspiring art-student Allison Jean (AJ) McCreary is told she has one wish from a magical cupid figure she must choose between getting into the art-school of her dreams, rescuing a sinking GPA, or having the the hunk that she's currently crushing on. Against the advice of her miniature mentor AJ opts for romance and suddenly THWONK she's got the hottest guy at Benjamin Franklin High in loony tunes love with her.

But have you ever noticed how there's always a catch? The girl soon realizes that snagging the hottest guy on campus isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially when he's not the demi-god she'd romanticized him into.

This is a short fun read and I was more than willing to keep flipping pages to get to the denouement everyone sort of expects in this type of story. This would probably make a great beach read but on some level I was wondering if the author wasn't just yanking our chain a bit. "They THINK they want a frothy light romantic wish fulfillment story without any heavy drama. Fine. Wish granted. NOW they'll learn to be careful what they wish for.

Still and all, provided it's not a steady diet, this kinda thing can be fun when one's in the mood.

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Imagine having your own personal cupid-the actual winged being-pop into your life and offer to make your dreams come true.. there's one catch.He can help you only one way: artistically,academically, or romantically. that's what happens to aspiring photographer Allison Jean(A.J.) McCreary. A.J. knows she should concentrate on getting into art school, but then there's handsome hunk Peter Terris...and with one shot from cupid's bow -thwonk! A.J.'s life will change forever.

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