Unlovable

Unlovable
by Sherry Gammon

From the publisher:
"Seventeen year-old Maggie Brown is the poster child for Heroin Chic, complete with jutting bones and dark-ringed eyes. But drugs are not Maggie's problem; her mother is.  Maggie's struggling with her growing feelings for the new guy at school, Seth Prescott, and fears he is just another person who will let her down, like everyone in her life has done so far.  Seth Prescott is an undercover cop assigned to Port Fare High, and despite his job, he's developed strong feelings for Maggie. While Seth's working tirelessly to flush out the sadistic drug peddlers that have invaded the small town of Port Fare, New York, Maggie's fighting to stay alive as the fight turns deadly."

While I enjoyed reading this and found parts gripping, there were other things that really irritated me. The good:
I cared about the characters. Maggie's life is just heart-breaking. Seth was the kind of hero that can do no wrong. Booker was the quirky and funny best friend. The plot was gripping in parts.
The irritating:
Maggie does incredibly stupid things (how often did she have to be told not to undo the security systems?!). Having a 21 year old being an undercover agent in a high school is kind of creepy. Seth was a little too perfect to be believable. Parents are either non-functioning or dead. High school stereotypes abound.

All that being said, several of my eighth-graders have loved this book.

Areas of concern: It had a definite "creepy" factor. Different points of view are heard in the book, mostly just Maggie and Seth, but a couple of chapters are from the points of view of 2 grisly murderers. I don't remember any cussing. There is plenty of kissing, but Seth declares his intent to "wait until marriage", so otherwise it was a very clean romance.

Suggested ages:
I couldn't find any reviews that listed suggested ages.  Because of the concerns named above, I would say 8th grade and older.