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Chain Reaction A Perfect Chemistry Novel Simone Elkeles Books

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Chain Reaction A Perfect Chemistry Novel Simone Elkeles Books

Brittany Ellis is the most popular, perfect girl at Fairfield High school. She has to project the image that she and her family is perfect but she and her entire family has plenty of imperfections. Her mother is mean, her father is never mentally present whenever he is home, and her sister has a mental slowness. So Brittany has to pretend to be the most perfect girl in town.
Alex Fuentes is the most thoughtful and loving gang member you will ever meet. He pretends to be tough and mean but deep down he has a huge heart. He's in Latino Blood to keep his family safe, and younger brothers away from gangs. He never did anything for himself.
Throw them together in chemistry and force them to become partners, this happens:

"'Miss Ellis?" Mrs. Peterson says. 'It's your turn. Introduce Alex to the class.'
'This is Alejandro Fuentes. When he wasn't hanging out on street corners and harassing innocent people this summer, he toured the inside of jails around the city, if you know what I mean. His secret desire is to go to college and become a chemistry teacher, like you, Mrs. Peterson.'
Brittany flashes me a triumphant smile, thinking she's won this round. Guess again, gringa.
'This is Brittany Ellis,' I sat, all eyes now focused on me. 'This summer she went to the mall, bought new clothes so she could expand her wardrobe, and spent her daddy's money on plastic surgery to enhance her, ahem, assets. Her secret desire is to date a Mexicano before she graduates.'
Game on..."

Slowly, the two of them realize there is more depth to the both of them than they allow anyone to see, and that they are more alike than anyone else they know. Brittany brings out the goodness in Alex and together they try to fight the odds even though they are from different sides of the tracks.
Alex takes a bet that he could get into Brittany's pants before Halloween. That is what starts his pursuit to the perfect barbie who he thought was as shallow as a kiddie pool. He didn't want ot lose Julio, his motorcycle he built by himself. They then begin to break down each other's walls and experience new things.
Simone brings to life two wonderful characters. This book teaches people to not judge a person based on rumors and appearance. It was beautiful to watch two unlikely people fall head over heals for each other. I felt their love as if it were my own.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves YA contemporary, forbidden love stories, or books that bring awareness about youth gang members and trying to find where you belong.


Tags : Amazon.com: Chain Reaction: A Perfect Chemistry Novel (9780802720870): Simone Elkeles: Books,Simone Elkeles,Chain Reaction: A Perfect Chemistry Novel,Walker Childrens,0802720870,People & Places - United States - Hispanic & Latino,Romance - General,Fairfield (Ill.),Families,Family life,Gangs,Gangs;Fiction.,High schools,Mexican Americans,Mexican Americans;Fiction.,Mexican Americans;Juvenile fiction.,Schools,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12),Fiction,Fiction-Romance,JUVENILE,JUVENILE FICTION General,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile Fiction Love & Romance,Juvenile FictionFamily - General,Juvenile FictionLaw & Crime,Juvenile FictionPeople & Places - United States - Hispanic & Latino,Juvenile Grades 10-12 Ages 15+,Law & Crime,Love & Romance,Monograph Series, any,Romance & relationships stories (Children's Teenage),Romance - General,Schools,Social Themes Dating & Relationships,TEEN'S FICTION ROMANCE,United States,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,YOUNG ADULT FICTION People & Places United States Hispanic & Latino,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance General,JUVENILE FICTION General,Juvenile Fiction Love & Romance,Juvenile FictionFamily - General,Juvenile FictionLaw & Crime,Juvenile FictionPeople & Places - United States - Hispanic & Latino,Law & Crime,Love & Romance,Social Themes Dating & Relationships,YOUNG ADULT FICTION People & Places United States Hispanic & Latino,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance General,Fiction,Juvenile fiction,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12),Romance & relationships stories (Children's Teenage)

Chain Reaction A Perfect Chemistry Novel Simone Elkeles Books Reviews

This book has caught my interest several times after seeing it mentioned by others and especially by one of my favorite authors. I finally couldn't resist anymore. I love this angsty, love story set during high school. Great character development and story line. This story of Brittany Ellis and Alex Fuentes is a modern day West Side Story. Growing up in two different worlds but attending the same high school, their paths cross in chemistry class. Brittany is popular, dates the star athlete and seems to have the perfect life. Alex belongs to a gang and grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. Struggling to help his mom raise his two brothers after his father's death, Alex is trying to prevent his brothers from following in his footsteps. In chemistry class, Brittany and Alex have to sit at the same lab table after the teacher assigns them alphabetical seats. They can hardly stand each other and the loathing is mutual. But what starts out as a bet with Alex's friends and gang members, quickly becomes more as they both find their selves in the same places on more than one occasion. Alex wishes for a better life but knows no other way to get out of the gang life without punishment to him and his family. He knows that he cannot pull Brittany in to this life. So much angst and heartache! The characters learn that being true to yourself is most important in order to be happy before love can be truly fulfilled. Learning to stand for what you believe, accepting others for who they are or where they come from, and being true to yourself is a lesson we can all learn from. Beautiful story of forbidden love!
This review contains minor spoilers.

I should preface this by saying that young adult is totally not my thing. That said – it was enjoyable for what it was – a fairly schmaltzy, feel-good (read not realistic) high romance with lots of typical clichés and romance tropes thrown in. The poor little rich girl and the not so bad, bad boy with a heart of gold; with a dash of opposites attract, “the Bet”, and forbidden love/class/culture clash….the “snow girl” and the Mexican gangbanger.

Brittany Ellis has the perfect life. She’s the designer clothes wearing, not a hair out of place, pom squad captain (that’s cheerleaders in my neck of the woods) and one half of her high school’s “golden couple”. Except that her mother is all about appearances and conditional love and her father is absent and uninvolved and Brittany must be perfect to make up for the blight that is her profoundly disabled sister with cerebral palsy Shelley. From Brittany’s perspective – if it were the 1950’s, her parents would have Shelley living in a windowless room in the attic; and she has to be absolutely perfect to make up for their flawed child. Brittany loves her big Sis. She spends time with her, helps care for her and has patience with her that the parents can’t even conceptualize. Brittany revolves her life around her sister and plans to go to college nearby so she can live at home and continue to help care for her so that her parents don’t send Shelley to a facility.

Alex, or Alejandro; Fuentes is a good son who loves his mother and his 2 younger brothers. He’s had to be “the man of the house since his father was murdered in front of him when he was 6. One way he’s protected his family is by joining the Latin Bloods. As long as one family member is in the gang – the others get a pass – so his brothers can go to college and make something of themselves – not shake people down and beat the crap out of them collecting on debts to the gang while trying desperately to avoid drug and gun deals.

Brittany and Alex go to the same public high school which encompasses both very wealthy white and very poor Latino communities North Side and South Side. The Fairfield High motto is “Diversity Breeds Knowledge” and the new principal Dr. Aguirre’s goal is to “bridge any gap in the school culture that negates that motto”. Mrs. Peterson, senior Chemistry teacher assigns seating and partners alphabetically; and she has a “zero tolerance policy” – for basically anything that pisses her off – so Brit and Alex are partners – shut up and deal. Except that it turns out that the Pom Pom Diva isn’t actually a conceited, self-absorbed, vapid, airhead and the Gangbanger isn’t actually a drugged out, amoral, idiot.

There’s the requisite amount of physical attraction and flirting, flirt/fighting foreplay and then the realization that they’re not so different. That they’re both trying really hard to portray and maintain an image – both being “actors in our lives, pretendin’ to be who we want people to think we are.” Then there’s lots of friend drama, and gang drama, so there can be lots of angst. There’s likable best friends (some more so than others Paco), jerky boyfriends Colin, stereotypical tough girl ex. girlfriends Carmen, mean-girl pretend friends Darlene and the cool nerdy guy in the coral colored shirt.

There’s some sex but not even remotely explicit and there’s some drinking and marijuana smoking – but nothing excessive. Even the gang stuff seemed kind of lame until the drug deal gone bad towards the end – cue more angst (and that did kind of suck). There’s also a bit of a jump into the future and a very unlikely but never-the less very sweet happily ever after. Again – it is what it is, and for what it is, it’s kind of fun.
Brittany Ellis is the most popular, perfect girl at Fairfield High school. She has to project the image that she and her family is perfect but she and her entire family has plenty of imperfections. Her mother is mean, her father is never mentally present whenever he is home, and her sister has a mental slowness. So Brittany has to pretend to be the most perfect girl in town.
Alex Fuentes is the most thoughtful and loving gang member you will ever meet. He pretends to be tough and mean but deep down he has a huge heart. He's in Latino Blood to keep his family safe, and younger brothers away from gangs. He never did anything for himself.
Throw them together in chemistry and force them to become partners, this happens

"'Miss Ellis?" Mrs. Peterson says. 'It's your turn. Introduce Alex to the class.'
'This is Alejandro Fuentes. When he wasn't hanging out on street corners and harassing innocent people this summer, he toured the inside of jails around the city, if you know what I mean. His secret desire is to go to college and become a chemistry teacher, like you, Mrs. Peterson.'
Brittany flashes me a triumphant smile, thinking she's won this round. Guess again, gringa.
'This is Brittany Ellis,' I sat, all eyes now focused on me. 'This summer she went to the mall, bought new clothes so she could expand her wardrobe, and spent her daddy's money on plastic surgery to enhance her, ahem, assets. Her secret desire is to date a Mexicano before she graduates.'
Game on..."

Slowly, the two of them realize there is more depth to the both of them than they allow anyone to see, and that they are more alike than anyone else they know. Brittany brings out the goodness in Alex and together they try to fight the odds even though they are from different sides of the tracks.
Alex takes a bet that he could get into Brittany's pants before Halloween. That is what starts his pursuit to the perfect barbie who he thought was as shallow as a kiddie pool. He didn't want ot lose Julio, his motorcycle he built by himself. They then begin to break down each other's walls and experience new things.
Simone brings to life two wonderful characters. This book teaches people to not judge a person based on rumors and appearance. It was beautiful to watch two unlikely people fall head over heals for each other. I felt their love as if it were my own.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves YA contemporary, forbidden love stories, or books that bring awareness about youth gang members and trying to find where you belong.