Della Says: OMG! by Keris Stainton

Orchard Books
2010
270 pages



Della's over the moon when she kisses her long-standing crush at a party-but then she discovers her diary has disappeared...When scans of embarrassing pages are sent to her mobile and appear on Facebook, Della's distraught-how can she enjoy her first proper romance when someone, somewhere, knows all her deepest, darkest secrets.


To say that I and a host of others have been waiting to read this book, would be an understatement. Della Says:OMG! is the debut novel by Keris Stainton. Let me say from the start that Keris is an online writer friend.
Friend or not, this is a little gem of a book. It rained all day Saturday and I literally curled up with a good book to read. I read it in one day and I can count on one hand how many books I've read in one day over the past 30 years.
I loved Della. She possesses a self-deprecating sense of humor, her parents embarrass her and her self-confidence just isn't where it should be. In other words, she has universal appeal.
But this book is also peopled with fabulous characters as well: her outrageous best friend, Maddie; Bob, who works in her parents' deli and goes to a Zen place to cut salami and her own mother, with the gorgeous model looks (what kind of nightmare is that for a teen aged girl?).
Keris bravely and deftly deals with an issue in the book that you rarely see mentioned in YA books. At first it took me by surprise but then I was glad it was there and I admired her for putting it there.
Another reviewer said it's the Forever of our century. I'd go one further and say it reminded me of the award winning, classic Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly which was published in 1942.
It's a great coming of age book: witty, tender and warm. It's also the type of book that I wished was around when I was a teenager- it might have helped, or at the very least, given me hope.


4.5/5