Review: Welcome Caller, This is Chloe by Shelley Coriell

Published by: Amulet books

Release date: May 1st, 2012

Number of Pages: 299

How I got this book: Netgalley eARC

My rating: 4.5/5

Goodreads Summary:

"Big-hearted Chloe Camden is the queen of her universe until her best friend shreds her reputation and her school counselor axes her junior independent study project. Chloe is forced to take on a meaningful project in order to pass, and so she joins her school’s struggling radio station, where the other students don’t find her too queenly. Ostracized by her former BFs and struggling with her beloved Grams’s mental deterioration, lonely Chloe ends up hosting a call-in show that gets the station much-needed publicity and, in the end, trouble. She also befriends radio techie and loner Duncan Moore, a quiet soul with a romantic heart. On and off the air, Chloe faces her loneliness and helps others find the fun and joy in everyday life. Readers will fall in love with Chloe as she falls in love with the radio station and the misfits who call it home."

Review:

Thank you to Netgalley and Amulet for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book!

Chloe is a perky, funny, and outgoing redheaded queen bee in her junior year at school. She's got a big heart although she's sometimes accused of being a bit self centered. But, all of a sudden she finds that her closest friends have completely turned their backs on her, and have gotten the whole school to shun her as well. Between that and her grandma's worsening Parkinson's Disease and the constant fighting between her mother and grandmother, she feels like her world is crumbling around her.

Then her junior independant study project idea is shot down, and she is basically given no choice but to join the school radio station which is run by the school "misfits." The radio station is danger of being taken off the air for good and need of publicity, which is where Chloe is needed. Luckily, this is an area where she shines!

Chloe ends up finding an unexpected family in the radio station "misfits" just when she needed one most - especially in the quiet but handsome Duncan Moore, who comes from a much more troubled family. To help the radio station gain popularity, Chloe ends up hosting two on air talk shows which become hugely popular and catapult the station into the spotlight...however, tragedy strikes...will the radio station family pull together or alienate their newest member?

I LOVED this book! To be honest, I was a bit annoyed by Chloe at first. I am not used to perky characters, lol - I guess I read too many angsty type books. She was kind of naive, and especially when it came to how bad Duncan's home situation was with a meth addicted mother, and she thought HER problems were so bad, it made me want to shake her a little bit. But, then I realized it was refreshing. She was good for Duncan. She was there for him even after she discovered how bad his life was, and brought sunshine into his life. It made me respect her. Not every teenager is full of angst and self loathing, thank goodness, and it was a nice change to read a book like this. It really was a book I needed to read right now.

I highly recommend this book - fun, quirky, but with a touch of seriousness too. Something for everyone!