Can True Love Survive High School?

by Natalie Standiford

Holly, Madison, and Lina are looking for true love. But how can you tell when it's real? What is true love anyway? When the three friends visit Stanford, one thing is clear - the dating game will only... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316110426
• ISBN13: 9780316110426
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Length: 213 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

Must Read!

Were your parents high school sweet hearts? Well that's exactly what Britta and Ed want to be in Can True Love Survive High School? by Natalie Standiford, the second book in The Dating Game series. In this teen drama Madison, Holly, and Lina are best friends in high school, and start a dating website for their school. It begins as a school project, but everything gets a little out of hand when they attempt to help a girl out who has never been on a date, who's name is Britta. Thanks to their website, Britta finds her "true love" who she wants to elope with after only knowing him for a couple weeks. Besides trying to stop the out of control engagement, Holly must try to keep her boyfriend, Rob, and keep up with Lina, who has a fan club for one of her teachers. "Fan club" is a pretty loose term considering that Lina is in love with her teacher and thinks that they should be together. Lina takes her obsession to great lengths when she plans to hide in his closet at a party, and surprise him after everybody has left. Can Holly stop Britta from getting married, and will Lina and her teacher end up together? Although this book is fiction, it is far from unrealistic. Natalie Standiford has done an excellent job of depicting high school, and the many challenges one faces there. Although I did not read the first book, The Dating Game, I still found this installment and the third, Ex Ratings, very enticing. One of the many things I like about this series is that you don't have to start with the first book for it to make sense. Each book provides enough background information on the characters so that you can pick up the last book, which I also read, and it will still be an excellent read, as well as understandable. This book is full of unsuspected twists and turns that just keep adding to the excitement. For example, when you think that Britta and her boyfriend and having a nice, normal relationship, Britta breaks the news of her plans for marriage to Holly by saying, "He said we should get married, the day after I met him...He said it was the only way we could be together. And it is. I'm going to do it. I'm going to marry him." (p.119) So, if you're a teenage girl looking for a great page-turner, I would definitely recommend this book to you.

the trouble with love is...

True loves always prevails, you just have to find it first. That's the hard part for Mads, Lina, and Holly, unfortunately. Mads' mom forces her to try out for a play that she has written, and Mads is more than happy to when she finds out that Sean's girlfriend will be in it, too. Lina is dismayed when she finds out Dan will be moving away, so she and Ramona decide to finally declare their love in a sneaky way that they will regret. Holly is back with Rob, but is sidetracked from him and her friends when she is swept up in playing matchmaker for Britta, expecially when Britta's parents refuse to let her see the guy she loves. Fun, fun, fun!

A humorous and realistic look at high school life

The third installment in Natalie Standiford's Dating Game series, CAN TRUE LOVE SURVIVE HIGH SCHOOL?, keeps the story of Holly, Madison and Lina moving and also fleshes out several minor characters from the previous books. Holly has a new project, which is to find her pal Britta a boyfriend so that Britta realizes there is more to life than just school. Madison is still dating her artist boyfriend, Stephen, while continuing to moon over Sean in a subtle manner. And Lina still has a serious crush on her teacher, Dan. All three girls seem to mature as the book progresses, which makes them better people and more likable characters. Britta can be a bit annoying at times, but this can be chalked up to her isolated existence; she now is beginning a serious relationship with a foreign boy and contemplating elopement. Holly's older sister invites Holly and her friends to spend a weekend at college with her, giving the girls a sneak peak at what life after high school might be like. Madison's mother has written an autobiographical play that is being produced, and she wants Madison and her younger sister to portray her in it. Madison is not thrilled, to say the least. Lina hopes to start something with Dan at a party, but begins to realize that perhaps he is not the best choice for a teenage girl. As with the first two installments, Standiford's strengths are her characters and humor. Readers will be able to relate to Holly, Madison and Lina, and the situations in which they find themselves. This series continues to be a humorous and realistic look at life in high school. --- Reviewed by Melissa A. Palmer ([...])