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Title: Margaux with an X
ISBN: 0763626791
Author:
Ron Koertge
Publicate Date: 2006-08-08
Publish: 2006-08-08
List Price: $6.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $2.95
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $2.50
Amazon Merchant Price: $6.99
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Popularity isn't everything...
An unlikely, but ultimately rewarding friendship develops between popular, smarmy Margaux and uber-geek Danny, who each have some dark secrets. Margaux is beautiful, stylish--the boys want to have her and the girls want to be her. She is even smart, but she hides it from everyone. Danny, on the other end of the social spectrum, intrigues Margaux. He's smart, polite, and doesn't treat her like a trophy.
Not much actually happens as far as plot, but the character development is excellent.
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2: Not Koertge's best, but still worth reading
Margaux is pretty, popular and deeply unhappy. The reader doesn't know why until she starts hanging out with not handsome, not rich and not popular Andy, who is happy. Andy works at the local animal shelter, and for fun, first alone and then with Margaux, looks to see what kind of homes the adopted animals have. Andy and Margaux are both academically adept and with each other can be honest, real friends.
It's not as good as the author's _Shakespeare Bats Cleanup,_ and its similarities to _Stoner and Spaz_ are there, but I liked it more than _Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright._
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3: Courtesy of Teens Read Too
If Stoner & Spaz pushed the envelope, then MARGAUX WITH AN X set the envelope on fire and tossed it from a window. This engaging and fun read by Ron Koertge presents two more likeable, quirky, and sardonic main characters who don't fit in and stop trying to.
But it's not an edgy or controversial book full of salacious and scandalous details about Margaux and Danny, two teen misfits. This book is impossible to put down due to Koertge's omniscient narrator, who guides the reader through the lives of two teens who are scarred by their parents. The narrator's voice is snarky and intelligent (Dictionary, anyone? What DOES persiflage mean, anyway?) and it's blended with Margaux's and Danny's, lending the novel a feeling of wholeness. Koertge clearly knows what it's like to be an outsider. In less capable hands, the blending of voices used in MARGAUX WITH AN X would fall flat and appear amateurish. But Koertge succeeds masterfully; the impression left on the reader is that Danny and Margaux are two parts of the same puzzle, and the narrator knows how to fit them in place because he's worked the puzzle before.
The main characters do not "complete" each other. There is no romantic sizzle. Instead, theirs is a relationship necessary to start their lives over again, without the shallow expectations of their peers in their SoCal high school environment. Danny's friendly but his awkwardness or disinterest in Margaux sexually makes him appealing to her. Although he may seem contrived to some oversexed readers, it is an unstated fact that his father's abusive nurturing has affected him in a variety of ways, both good and bad. Margaux's good looks draw men to her, a fact she resents due to her own sad past. By keeping these two on a platonic but loving level, Koertge lays the groundwork for a believable, happy ending to a compelling novel.
Highly recommended. Five stars and Gold Award.
Reviewed by: Mark Frye, author and reviewer
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4: Resonably okay.....
Margaux with an x is about a young lady who seems to have it all. Beauty,Popularity and can do about anything without getting into trouble at home. Yet she is not happy she holds a dark secret that happened to her when she was young.She is tired of every boy drooling over her and wanting to date her and most having no content to them. She has a gambler as a father and a mother who just watches television all day. Her life takes a different turn when she meets Danny. He is the total opposite of all the guys she has dated. He is a year behind her in high school he is thin and is not shapely, yet they both start a bond with each other. The book was interesting but after awhile I got tired and could not keep up with the constant bantering and sarcasm of the main characters.
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5: Extremely sharp and entertaining
This book, despite an serious and well-developed plot, had me cracking up. The sarcastic and intelligent humor it is written in, most notably Margaux's voice, is hilarious. Margaux experiences changes and deep hurt, while running a higly entertaining and sophisticated track of commentaries on everything. I really loved this book, and literally read it in one sitting. The entire book is well thought out, and leaves you with the good feeling of having read a witty, self-contained book. I really recommend this to any young adult readers out there.
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