The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot

Author: Meg Cabot

Title: The Boy Next Door
Publication: October 8th 2002
Publisher: Avon Books
Source: Purchased
Genre: Adult Fiction
Rating: 5 out 5

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Synopsis: To: You (you)

From: Human Resources (human.resources@thenyjournal.com)
Subject: This Book

Dear Reader,

This is an automated message from the Human Resources Division of the New York Journal, New York City’s leading photo-newspaper. Please be aware that according to our records you have not yet read this book. What exactly are you waiting for? This book has it all:

• Humor
• Romance
• Cooking tips
• Great Danes
• Heroine in peril
• Dolphin-shaped driftwood sculptures

If you wish to read about any of the above, please do not hesitate to head to the checkout counter, where you will be paired with a sales associate who will work to help you buy this book.

We here at the New York Journal are a team. We win as a team, and lose as one as well. Don’t you want to be on the winning team?

Sincerely,
Human Resources Division
New York Journal

Please note that failure to read this book may result in suspension or dismissal from this store.

*********This e-mail is confidential and should not be used by anyone who is not the original intended recipient. If you have received this e-mail in error please inform the sender and delete it from your mailbox or any other storage mechanism.*********

Thoughts: What the heck did you read in the summary? It's not your average paragraph. That's because The Boy Next Door is all written in emails. That's an example of an email that is given to a character. The format is also email based. On top there's a "to", "from", "subject", and body so it looks like a legit email. In order to know who's talking you have to look at the "from" line. It's hard to get used to at first, but once you get the hang of it the book is really fun to read!

This book starts off with Mel who is a reporter for the New York Journal. She has a lovely older lady next door to her apartment, but one day her grandson -- Max -- came to visit and she "fell down" into a comma. Max, to put it bluntly, is an ass hole. He's self centered and a player who photographs naked women as a job. He freaks out and calls his friend John and asks him to take his place. John agrees and takes the identity of Max. Shortly after he moved in meets Mel and finds her very attractive, funny, witty, and all around a good person. John works for the New York Chronicle which is the rival journalist company to Mels. The challenge is to keep his identity is safe, but it gets harder when his family gets involved. All of this is sent via emails. They talk about their day and what they think about people to their friends and family so that's how you understand the plot.

This book made me laugh multiple times; Megs humor never fails to amuse me. Mel is a smart woman who doesn't care for romance in her life but get's it anyway. Same with John, he doesn't think about love until he meets Mel. All of the secondary characters (like Max, Mels best friend, all of her co-workers) play a huge part in the plot. It's not just John and Mel creating emails to each other, sometimes the secondary characters have an email chain of their own. The Boy Next Door is very clever, and I provided two examples email below... sorry it gets cut off. You can fill in the blanks pretty easily. This is an example of her humor, It's a conversation between John and his brother Jason. On the side of the first example you can see a snippet of Max and Johns conversation. It gets complex sometimes, but again you'll get used to it.