I took a break this weekend from the classic literature and “grown up books” that I’ve been reading lately to enjoy at little YA fiction (that did not involve anything paranormal like vampires, angels or werewolves). I try to stay away from it, because at nearly 22 I sometimes (frequently) find myself having a hard time relating to the 15-year-old characters finding the loves of their lives. I was once 15 myself, and this did not happen for anyone I knew. But, they’re kind of my guilty pleasure books, and Winnie was much more relatable at the age of 17. So after pouring over Barnes and Noble’s website for a couple of hours, I finally settled on Rich Boys by Jenny O’Connell. The title of this book is absurd. I’m a little bit embarrassed for the author because of it. If I wasn’t already familiar with her, (absolutely loved her book The Book of Luke. If you’re a fan of YA, I completely recommend it) there’s no way I ever would have purchased the book, but I am glad that I did in the end.
The book is the second in O’Connell’s Island Summer Series (you don’t need to read the first to enjoy it) and is the story of a girl named Winnie. It’s the start of her summer vacation, and her life has never been worse. Her sister decided not to come home from culinary school in Boston for the summer. Her parents are spending so little time together, Winnie’s fairly certain they’re on the brink of divorce. And Winnie’s job as a summer camp counselor at a resort in her beach town is only four hours in the morning, so she doesn’t have a chance to escape all of the awkwardness that goes on at home while or feeling like a third wheel with her best friend, Jessie, and Jessie’s jerky boyfriend, Nash. Then Winnie meets heavily pregnant Anne Barclay and her daughter, Cassie, while working at the beach one day. Anne is well into her third trimester of her pregnancy and is having a hard time keeping six-year-old Cassie entertained. She asks if Winnie will come be their nanny in the afternoons so Anne can rest, and Winnie happily accepts.
Winnie’s only been working for the Barclays a few days when Anne’s stepson, Jay, comes into the picture. After he’s rude to Winnie the day he arrives at the house, she’s pretty much ready to write him off completely. But Winnie can feel that there is more to Jay than meets the eye. She can tell that there’s a different person underneath the guy who is angry at the world and got kicked out of the dorms at his college for almost setting them on fire. The more time she spends with Cassie, the more time she spends around Jay, and the more Winnie realizes that things are not always as they appear. Her own family may be falling apart, but Winnie may be able to bring another back together before the summer’s over.
I loved this book. I thought Winnie’s insights about love, life and forgiveness were pretty much spot on. There are two major flaws though. Firstly, the absurd title. This book is basically a beach read. I read it in 2-3 hours on Saturday morning, but the title completely trivializes a book that realistically deals with some pretty heavy issues. I commend O’Connell for the way she tackles things like death, abortion and guilt, but she really should have fought for a better title for her book. Money wasn’t really a big factor. The two main guys, Jay and Nash, both came from wealthy families and were only on the island for the summer, but their problems are not limited to the ridiculously wealthy. Honestly, any guy can be a terrible boyfriend. Any guy can have major guilt issues over the death of a parent. Their problems were in no way defined by their economic status and had nothing to do with the book. Besides, the book was about Winnie. I felt like the title should have something to do with her.
My second problem is that this book feeds into the popular myth that a girl can change a guy. Jay meets Winnie and decides he wants to be a better person. Wrong. Books like this are why girls like me have unrealistic expectations in men. You meet a guy and know that he’s a jerk, but you just have to believe that there’s some deep underlying cause to his jerkiness, like guilt over his deceased mother or that he wasn’t loved enough as a child. Wrong. This is why girls date guys who are jerks. We read too many books and watch too many movies where a girl changes a guy, and we completely forget that this is a completely synthetic situation. Some author or script writer is feeding the guy every tear jerking line he says. I completely forget it too as heroes like Jay finally repair their relationships with their estranged fathers and become better people. Let us remember that there are far more Nashes in the world than there are Jays. But honestly, we probably wouldn’t enjoy books so much if every hero was a nice normal guy who was issue free. O’Connell handles well all of the issues that arise in the book though, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I give it 5 out of 7 stars.
Confessions of a Publishing Intern 
bhahaha Behind the post I helped inspire, this might be my second favorite.
Hahaha. Thank you. The title just really really bothered me. And the crushing realization I would probably never meet a guy who was actually like the hero of this book.
So this just popped up on my radar. Let me just say it: I did not name this book. I hate the title of this book. HATE IT. Why? Because I never said, “I want to write a book about rich boys and the girls they shit on.” I wanted to write a story about two people who were in the middle of something that made them feel lost, and maybe, just maybe, they could help one another figure it out. As the writer, I can say that I thought Winnie was just as “lost” as Jay, even if her lost-ed-ness didn’t manifest itself as overt anger. And I’d never want girls to think they can change a guy – some of them just suck (a lesson even grown women still need to learn). I think there are situations that change who we are, not people. Anyway…
I am not responsible for the title, I wish it better reflectd the true story. I also didn’t name its companion, LOCAL GIRLS, although that title is only slightly less ridiculous. I couldn’t give the publisher a name they liked, so they picked one of their own. And now I have to live with RICH BOYS.
In any case, I’m glad you enjoyed it.
The author, Jenny O’Connell
First of all, I’d like to say thank you for commenting on my blog. I’m really honored. Your novel The Book of Luke is one of my all time favorite books, and this just totally made my day.
Secondly, I hope I did convey how much I enjoyed the book. I absolutely could not put it down. I also had a feeling the title was not of your choosing, because I’m interning in the marketing department at a publishing company right now and I know the debates that go on over books titles. I’m very sorry that your wonderful book got stuck with a less than wonderful name. I’m still recommending it to all my friends and plan on getting Island Girls soon.
Thanks, Samantha. The title RICH BOYS is the bane of my existance! Jeez, I wouldn’t even pick up a book with that title! Ugh! Unfortunately I couldn’t come up with anything better. Lesson learned! Glad you liked THE BOOK OF LUKE. I get so many emails about that book and I have to say, I don’t know why. I didn’t love it when I was writing it, I actually like RICH BOYS better. I’m writing a “sequel” to LUKE, but it will be a short story, so many people were asking for the story to continue. Anyhooo, I’m glad you read RICH BOYS and enjoyed it. Hope your internship is fun and you’re learning a lot!