Review: What Would My Cell Phone Do?

Author: Micol Ostow
Pages: 224
Publisher: Speak
Source: Library
Synopsis: When Aggie Eckhart's family moves from Miami, Florida, to Denville, Alaska, because of her father's job, Aggie feels like a fish out of water. Not only is frozen Denville a far cry from sunny Miami, but she's got no friends, her mother is driving her crazy, and she loses her cell phone within the first monthÑ cutting off her lifeline to civilization. But when an online search for her phone (using the schmancy built-in GPS tracker) reveals that the cell is enjoying life up north much more than Aggie is, she adopts a whole new outlook. No more woe-is-me, now it's all WWMCPD (What Would My Cell Phone Do)? And before Aggie knows it, things are looking a whole lot brighter in this charming, fun, and lighthearted YA romance.

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What Would My Cell Phone Do is fun, snarky, and a good book about being who you are and challenging yourself to be who you want to be.

Aggie is upset (to say the least) with her parents' decision to move from sunny, humid Miami to Alaska. She whines and sulks and acts totally immature- which is relatable. I mean, who doesn't occasionally act childish? Besides that, she's the kind of girl who's happier to stay on the sidelines and in the shadows. Seriously, she won't even buy a red jacket because it has too much colour. I looked at my red coat sadly when I read of her lack of colorful clothing. What Aggie does have is attitude, and she's a great friend. She's not pretentious and while she does make many mistakes, she grows. I could relate to her.

What I loved about WWMCPD was the writing in Aggie's perspective. It was so snarky and sarcastic with bits of teenage girlishness that I loved. There was some rambling which may sound boring but it managed to capture my attention. Aggie was like a real teenager with her mixture of vulnerability and sarcasm being used to hide issues.

The plot was the only meh part of the book. Honestly, I loved the characters (seriously, Duncan!!!) and the writing but the plot itself wasn't capturing my attention much. Some parts I found very unbelievable (like the romantic interest) and a bit clichéd while others were original. Aggie changes through the course of the novel which is always fun to read about.

Quick comment about the setting too- Alaska was written about so well. The isolation was there but the author didn't really bag on Alaska. Micol Ostow wrote about lots of other things to do- hikes, see the Northern Lights, ski, cross country, dog sleds... Wintery goodness. (Oh, and skiing is fun! I've only done it a handful of times but it's not as hard as the melodramatic Aggie makes it out to be!)

All in all, if you're looking for a fun, light contemporary read with friendship, family, and a good little chihuahua, What Would My Cell Phone Do is perfect for you. 3.5 stars,

*** & 1/2 *