The Treasure Map of Boys by E. Lockhart

Ruby Oliver is back from Christmas vacation and well in all honesty, life hasn’t gotten any less confusing for her at Tate Prep. You see, she hasn’t had a boyfriend now in 37 weeks and the future is looking bleak as well, her panic attacks are getting worse, and her friend Nora has told her to stay away from the one boy she likes. Not only does she have to deal with all this drama, but Jackson, her old boyfriend, has all of sudden become very friendly, Nora’s brother Gideon is coming on to her, and rumors are flying around the school about Ruby again.

Ruby is just not sure how she is going to survive her second semester of Junior year. There’s bake sales, smelly feet, pygmey goats, and her constant struggle with her mental health to take into account, but hey she’s survived before so who says she can’t do it again!

I only read the first book in the series, THE BOYFRIEND LIST, but had no problem jumping into another of Ruby’s many escapades. Ruby filled the reader in on any information they may have missed by not reading the other books to make this a great book.

I thought that the whole story was side-splitting hilarious and was so full of crazy adventures that I couldn’t help but wish I could get caught up with it all myself. All the boy drama within the book was so real. It reaked havoc on friendships and drove everyone crazy, just like in real life. What made it even more authentic was the personality of they guys – it was so typical! While the boys had that typical personality, they were not super well developed. Ruby on the other hand was developed and relatable, but not always real.

Anyways, I really liked the book. The writing made the book easy to read and I loved how each chapter started out with a journal entry – it really set the mood. It was fun and light and I can’t wait to hear more about her adventures. This is a great book that I really enjoyed and had me laughing until the very last page.