Author: Natalie Palmer
Publisher: Tate Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Source: Purchased

Goodreads:  ‘Even my most humiliating moments seemed funny somehow when I told them to Jess.’ Gemma Mitchell is a normal girl who somehow gets herself into abnormally embarrassing circumstances. And while she thinks she’s the biggest loser in school because of them, there are a few people in her life who would disagree. One of those people is her best friend, Jess Tyler, who is opposite to her in every way. He’s popular, good looking, athletic, and intelligent, and he can’t get enough of Gemma. But while Gemma is dealing with problems like wrong locker combinations and Valentine’s Day dances, Jess is living in a world of serious issues that are foreign to Gemma, until she realizes that he’s holding on to her for dear life. Humorous and true to life, Second Kiss is an entertaining saga about a boy and girl who find that their lives have a lot more meaning once they have shared them with each other.

Ope’s Opinion:    I love young adult books – this was a middle school, coming of age book.  If I had known that when I started reading, I either would not have chosen to read it or come in with a different perspective.

I was frustrated that the author wrote Gemma as dependent on her friend Jess as she was.  I think middle school ( or any age ) females need strong roll models to read about and Gemma was not that role model.  I couldn’t believe she walked into a classroom without a schedule and just stayed in the class – the teacher didn’t send her to the office to find out where she was suppose to be.  It all seemed a little odd to me.  I feel like Gemma put herself in uncomfortable situations, then didn’t get why it was happening to her.

Jess was a kind, understanding friend.  I give him a lot of credit for hanging around Gemma.  He needed her friendship too.