The first day of school is hard but the first day of school at a NEW school is even harder. Imagine having to relive the first day of school over and over and over again. That's what happens in this Pretty in Pink meets Groundhog Day YA book. Andie has a mom who loves everything 80s and introduces her to the movies at just the right time. After a viewing of Pretty in Pink, she wakes up the next morning for her first day of school. It turns out to be disastrous but no worries. She can just live it over again until she figures out how to break this curse.
This was a fun and cute read. While I found it to be predictable, I found myself wanting to keep going. I wanted to see how Andie figured out she was in a loop and what she would do with each loop. The reader is brought along for the adventure of her thinking one guy is good for her when it's been a different one all along. Some days, she just gave up and others, she put in extra effort. Seeing her try to tear down the social walls (as touched upon in Breakfast Club) and get everybody to interact was fun. Some of it felt a bit montage-y like a movie would but Groundhog Day did the same thing. There's only so many ways you can write the same day over and over again without it feeling old hat and repetitive. I think the author did a decent job with the material and she definitely did her research on John Hughes movies. I do think the book and the characters could have been more well-rounded as it was mostly all stereotypes to fit in with the story but it worked for the most part.

This is a fun read--it was easy to get into this quirky novel. Andie is really likable and easy to cheer on as she learns to accept her self and others. Plus, the 80s kid in me loved the pop culture references. I would recommend this book to those who like rom-coms.

Pretty in Punxsutawney is a contemporary young adult novel scheduled for release in early 2019. This is a fast read and although it is theoretically for teens I think that only younger readers (10, maybe?) who are aware of and fascinated in the 1980s films of John Hughes would be interested. Primarily, I can see this appealing to readers who remember and love John Hughes films and want a read featuring a narrator who is hyperaware of them. (In other words, not teenagers!)

Pretty in Punxsutawney did not work for me. The over reliance on movies from three plus decades ago coupled with the fact that Andie is about as much of a teenager as I am (I was a teen when the big Hughes films were out) and the corny plot, down to the "lessons learned" box ticked, makes this one feel and read like a throwback/away ya novel from the 1980s.

Pretty in Punxsutawney by Laura Boyle Crompton, 304 pages. Blink, JAN 2019. $18.

Content: G (1 swear, 0 ‘f’)

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Andie and her family moved to Punxsutawney during the summer and Andie immediately found a romantic interest in Colton, who works at the local movie theater – though he doesn’t seem to see Andie that way. Now the first day of school has arrived and 80’s movie loving mother has convinced her to wear a pink polka-dot dress ala Pretty in Pink to school. After the maximum first day disaster Andie is ready to slink off to school the next day and lay low for the rest her life. But – what? It’s the first day of school all over again! Andie is somehow stuck in a time loop. If she doesn’t figure out what the universe wants for her, how many years will she spend repeating that first awful day?

References to Bill Murray in Groundhog Day (did you know he spent about 30 years in that loop?) and every Molly Ringwald movie abound. This would make a pretty cute update to Murray movie for sure. Andie recreates herself as a cheerleader in one series of days and as a bass guitar rocker chick in another. A great romp to read. I’m glad I read it soon after I reread Oh My Goth by Gena Showalter – similar flavors of goodness.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

When I heard the pitch for this book, I knew I had to read it. I mean Ground Hog Day meets Pretty in Pink! Yes, the story is cute and funny. This is a quirky teen read. And when I say teen, I mean teen. The main character is a classic teenager that you want to shake as she makes choice after questionable choice.. That fact actually made it really hard for me to get through the first half of the book, but the second half was worth pushing through. It was just such a cute storyline, with some important themes tied in. I think the moral of the story is worth the read!

A solid 4.5 stars. This is a YA book, but much is written about 80s teen flicks that I feel it’s appeal more to a 40 something Mom than a teenager. Then again I’m a 40 something mom.

Andie moves to a new town and develops a crush on the wrong boy before her first day of school. It’s clear after her first day that she’s all wrong for her crush, but it’s fine because she gets a redo. That’s right, she left somehow reliving the exact same first day of school over and over like the moving Groundhog Day.

Over months of trying to reinvent herself into someone Colton will love she realizes she doesn’t like him, then tries to cross the cliche barriers like breakfast club by befriending cheerleaders, nerds, goth, and brains...even though they don’t remember her the next day she remembers everything.

Through this all Tom remains her one constant, never treating her differently no matter who she is that day. She slowly falls in love with him, but can’t move his feeling forward because there is never a tomorrow for them.

I was attracted to this book because I liked the cover and who doesn't like the movie Pretty in Pink which is what reviews said this book was based off of. But I just didn't really connect with it.

This really felt like something from the 80's which I probably should have expected but the whole high school cliques just isn't really relevant anymore. I feel like stories have matured and this trope isn't as popular as it was. So I just kind of lulled through the book until it was finished.

Oh I loved this book! Alot of 80 references. Fluffy, fun read. This was the first book I've read by this author. Thanks Netgalley for the Arc

This was a quick, fluffy read. Andie is stuck on her first day at a new high school. She wakes up each morning to the same thing and must figure out how to break the cycle. The book is stuffed with 80s references and is a little over the top at times but it was still a fun read.

Romcoms are one of my favorite ever genres and this one had me rolling. Andie was great, she reminded me a lot of an old friend of mine. She was easily relatable. She was fun. She was real. The groundhogs day vibe was so funny. I remember watching that movie as a kid but ive never read it before and I loved it. Who would want to relive the first day of senior year over and over again? Omg! Loved this book.

First, I need to say, I love the movie "Groundhog Day", I also love John Hughes movies. This book captured my interest by the title, then the description. I will definitely recommend this book to my middle school students, it's fun, it's interesting and I know there are times when I wish I had a do-over or two in my life! The characters are well written and the story line is just fantastic!

This book is a blast! I loved the movie references and thought that Andie was a lot of fun to get to know as she blundered the first day of school over and over again. It was a little painful at times, but I thought that it was clever how Laurie kept the story moving and the ending was not at all what I expected. I loved the revelations Andie experiences along the way and highly recommend this fun story.
I received this book from the publisher. This is my honest review.

I can't say enough good things about Laurie Boyle Crompton's Pretty in Punxsutawney. This book was a lot of fun to read and I had a hard time putting it down. This is a must read for all. Great story and characters that were fun to get to know.

I received a copy of PRETTY IN PUNXSUTAWNEY on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher and author.

Five stars and here's why:

I’m a sucker for 1980’s movies. This book mashes "Pretty in Pink" and "Ground Hog Day" concepts together and folds in screenwriter and director extraordinaire John Hugh’s 1980’s version of the “Great American High School Experience.” I was hooked from the first chapter!

Let’s face it. Most of us wish we could go back in time like Marty McFly from "Back to the Future" and have a total high school do-over. Oh, what a gift that would be! Laurie Boyle Crompton skillfully crafts a love story where Andie must live her first day of a new high school on an endless loop until she finally finds common ground amongst all her peer groups and fulfills true love’s first kiss with the right guy.

Ms. Crompton entertains the reader with all of the fun someone could have with a total high-school redo day after day, month after month with no end in sight. It takes some doing, but Andie discovers that each person she meets in high school is just trying to navigate their own path to enlightenment. The teenage years are all about trying on different personalities and costumes in an effort to figure out where we fit in. Stuck in an endless loop of reliving the same day over and over, Andie manages to infiltrate each high school clique. She soon realizes that these kids have a lot more in common than they do have differences.

As a teacher, I wanted to see more diversity highlighted within the book, as that’s a more accurate picture of high school today, but overall I didn’t think it detracted from the story one iota. This book leaves the reader with a positive message: we are all different, but what makes us unique can also bring us closer to others. We just have to make the effort. And if you don’t at first succeed, try and try again…

If you love strong and savvy girls, swoon-worthy guys, and a rom-com ending of epic proportions, then this book is for you. I loved it. Highly recommend.

Andie was raised on 80's flicks. Her mother is a huge John Hughes fan so Andie's life is all Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller, and Weird Science. Because of this, Andie is a film nerd and she's determined to get her perfect first kiss after meeting a boy in a classic movie-type "meet-cute".

When Andie's parents move her to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Andie is thrust in to "big town life". Her previous school had less than 200 students total and now she's going to start her senior year of high school with hundreds of students who already know each other. Luckily, Andie's already met her true love in the form of Colton, the movie theater ticket taker with whom she's spent almost every day of the summer and on whom she's crushing... hard.

To help her prepare for her first day of senior year, Andie's mom debuts Pretty in Pink, a John Hughes classic that she's been saving for the day before Andie's last year in high school.

What she should have shown her is Groundhog Day because it turns out that Andie's trapped in a first day nightmare. Every time she goes to sleep, she wakes to the same music from Pretty in Pink, in the same stupid pink dress, and with the same problem; she can't get free of her first day of school.

Doing a little research, Andie realizes that her only way out of the horrible loop is to get her first kiss. But is Colton really the one who can break the curse?

Final thoughts: Cotton candy book all the way. The plot is highly predictable and the characters are cookie cutter. The stereotypes are fairly strong and not very forgiving here. There are some fun moments and it has a nice idea or two, but it's not mind blowing or life changing. Fun read but forgettable.

Rating: 2.5/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

An adorable, endearing story that offers a fresh take on 80s teen movies and high school cliques and cliches, as the heroine continues to live the first day of her senior year of high school over and over again. Andie is a likable narrator, and her journey to acceptance of herself and the people around her is a delight to see. Fun Easter eggs for fans of Groundhog Day (the movie).

No filmmaker has captured the ethos of the American High School Experience better or more completely than John Hughes. If your parent grew up in the 1980s, you've likely been exposed to their personal accounts of how these films made them feel included when they felt marginalized or made them see their peers in a whole new light. Pretty in Punxsutawney is a fun tribute to several iconic films of the late 20th century (not just those of John Hughes), including Ferris Bueller's Day off, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Fifty First Dates, and, most importantly Groundhog Day.

Imagine if you could live your first day at a new high school over and over again until you got it right... and imagine if you ~had~ to do it and weren't sure what it would take to make "tomorrow" finally come. Pretty in Punxsutawney imagines it with all the fun and horror you would expect while also bringing home the point that we're all just trying on personalities and costumes, trying to figure out where we fit in, and sending the message that breaking out of a clique or stereotype is ultimately the best way to find out where we truly belong.

Fun summer read. Strong and insightful protagonist.
Living in a new town and only knowing two people she met at the local movie theater, Andie ends up repeating her first day of high school over and over thinking she needs "true loves kiss" to get it to stop looping. However, it takes her awhile because her true love is not who she thinks it is. She also learns all about the cliques and personalities of her fellow classmates and tries to help out a few in the process.
Will appeal to the female readers looking for a fun read as well to any movie buffs who may be out there.

In general, I enjoyed this one. As someone who grew up with Groundhogs Day and Pretty in Pink, it was interesting to see a spin on those films. The protagonist is self-aware to a degree and notes some of the cringey moments from PiP as cringey, which is good.

But the book itself isn't very diverse, and I'd love to have seen a John Hughes-like concept (like this is) address that particular 80s issue by applying today's perspectives on diversity to the book itself. There are a number of social issues that I appreciated seeing here. I read a few reviews in which the reviewers didn't think this concept worked today because kids don't have cliques. Listen, it depends deeply school by school, but having worked at a half-dozen schools full-time and dozens as a sub (all in four different counties in California) believe me when I say that the 80s cliques still exist in some high schools.

As a librarian, I see the market for this book. But for the most part, that market isn't in my diverse high school library. It's primarily for adults who read YA books for a variety of reasons, and tangentially for a few quirky high schoolers with parents my age or a little older who shared these films with their children.

I was so pleasantly surprised by this story! Tackles the hierarchy of high school without being heavy handed and had the perfect amount of humor to create an enlightening and entertaining read.