My Stupid Girl

By: Aurora Smith

Narrated by: David Dietz

All 17-year-old David really wants is to fly under life's radar. In a typical cold winter day in Montana he does something extraordinary: he rescues smart, funny, gorgeous good-girl Lucy Peterson from drowning in a freezing lake. As their friendship grows, David realizes that risking his life was the easy part. His friendship with a girl who is different from him in every imaginable way forces David to challenge himself and those around him. He must face the abuse of his past and the uncertainty of his future as he struggles to keep Lucy by his side.

©2012 Jessica Cheatwood (P)2014 Jessica Cheatwood

Critic reviews

"Narrator David Dietz enhances this exceptional first-person story…Dietz flawlessly captures sweet and sarcastic David, his spirited grandmother, and Lucy, the girl with the raucous laugh…Dietz portrays characters superbly and keeps the narrative threads clear. His delivery gives the twists of the story the significance they warrant.Young people of both genders will enjoy this. S.G.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2014]" " ( AudioFile)

A Nice Surprise

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I will highly recommend this book to a friend. This book will be a pleasure for a wide range of ages because its so relatable.

What did you like best about this story?

I really enjoyed this book. Although the main characters are raised in different worlds it’s not the typical good girl bad boy story. The story encompasses love, heartache, abuse; it’s a story that addresses many topics. I rarely knew what was going to happen next. In addition, I rarely read a story from a male’s point of view and a good portion of the story is from David’s point of view. David and Lucy’s journey into adulthood is a wonderful story.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narrator did an excellent job actually sounding like a teenager, with almost every character. The only problem I have is generally the same problem I have with male narrators, its very difficult to sound like a young teenage girl. It comes across incredibly annoying and unrealistic but it’s not terrible enough to take from the story and I still say he did a really good job. The narrator did a great job pacing the story and turned on the serious and comedic tones at the right time.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I didn’t have an extreme emotions to this book but its still an excellent read.

Very truthful deep and fun

I wasn’t expecting to love this book, but I did! It is a sweet coming of age story about forgiveness. I loved watching these characters make mistakes and learn from them.

The fact that all of the characters were flawed made this story feel real and true, like it could be happening somewhere in the world. It has a mixture of drama and comicality, which made this a fast paced and easy to read story, even if it dealt with some difficult issues like domestic violence, teen pregnancy, adoption and loss.

It did seem like too much drama for one lifetime, and maybe some of the subplots or main events weren’t necessary, the story had enough material as it was. That definitely is my biggest complaint with this book. It also confused me a bit that the time frames were changing all the time. Like from one chapter to the other several months would’ve passed, but sometimes three or more chapters would take place within the course of days. Finally, I felt that David’s reactions to one particular event, which I cannot comment about without spoilers, were weird. If that happened to me I would’ve been way angrier or frustrated, confused even. Not so happy or willing. I did feel that as time passed he sort of felt the consequences of that decision, like it hit him later, which made up for his hastiness a bit.

Other than that I felt this story was simply beautiful. I tend to avoid Christian fiction at all costs because, even if I’m a Christian myself, I found them to be, more often than not, too preachy and the characters just don’t appeal to me. They are weird. Like being a religious person means you don’t get to be normal. Thankfully this book was an exception, which is one of the main reasons I loved it. The Christian kids were very real and normal, and the book wasn’t preachy at all. It portrayed God as a loving father who accepts us no matter what.

Lucy was very religious but so real. She did normal stuff, felt jealousy and envy at times, made horrible mistakes! Cared about important and silly stuff, like a Normal teenager! I actually felt very close to her, because I used to be just like her! And worried about the same stuff.

But what I loved the most was the message about forgiveness. It is portrayed just as it is: a hard decision we have to make over and over again, but in the end will help lift a huge weight off our shoulders. I also loved that they featured it as the most important Christian value.

I loved David’s journey because we could see him change, but also understood the moments that triggered those changes or growth. It was very organic and progressive.

The narration was good. I enjoyed David Dietz narration a bit more than I did in Halfskin. He wasn’t too loud this time, and I thought I would have trouble hearing the same voice for a different character but I didn’t. I liked how he did David and Grandma, and he had great pacing for his narration. I did feel though, that the female voices were too similar to each other.

Overall, it was a great read, with powerful messages and good narration; and even if it was charged with heavy stuff, it was still a light read. It has great character development and it is impossible not to care for this adorable gang, and David’s grandma. What a women she was.

Such a feel good book!

What did you love best about My Stupid Girl?

The narrator was great. I really enjoyed the whole book, I love a happily ever after kinda book!

What other book might you compare My Stupid Girl to and why?

Sarah Dessen books. You really like the main characters, you relate to them. And they have some feel good kisses, without being to much.

Which scene was your favorite?

I had lots of favorite scenes! I loved the scenes with all of the friends together group hang outs. Birthdays, hospital, and so on.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

That David learned to forgive. When it came to Lucy, his father, his birth father, and himself.

Any additional comments?

Such a great read for any age!

unexpected Y/A

If you could sum up My Stupid Girl in three words, what would they be?

an unexpected pleasure

Which character – as performed by David Dietz – was your favorite?

grandma and of course David

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I bet they would ruin it if they made it into a film !!!

Any additional comments?

I'd never heard of this author before, so I didn't really have any expectations for this one, especially as it’s written for Y/A.
But I really loved it , David is not your usual hero, Goth type with piercings and wears make up, but he turns out to be such a likeable character.
Following David’s escapades you’ll end up both smiling , crying and laughing .
David Dietz’s narration was really spot on with this book …. All together a great listening experience.

Not what I expected, but really great

I really liked this book, and I was not prepared to like it so much, especially when I realized it was a YA book, which I usually have a hard time relating to. With this book, I found myself really caring about the characters, which were all very well-developed. I found I could even relate to Lucy when I was much younger. This book touches on lots of subjects like adoption, premarital/teenage sex, purity, and how appearances can be deceiving. I listened to the Audible audio version narrated by David Dietz, and while I found his female voices a little screetchy at times, I still enjoyed the narration. He did a great job giving a unique voice to each character. Overall, this was a really great book, and though this is the first I have read by Aurora Smith, I will be definitely be checking out more that she has written.