The Boyfriend List

E. Lockhart
Delacorte Books for Young Readers – March 2005
Diana Finch Literary Agency
240 pp.

Sold to Mondadori Ragazzi in Italy for 4,000 Euros

Ruby Oliver is 15 and has a shrink. She knows it’s unusual, but give her a break—she’s had a rough 10 days. In the past 10 days she:
lost her boyfriend (#13 on the list),

lost her best friend (Kim),

lost all her other friends (Nora, Cricket),

did something suspicious with a boy (#10),

did something advanced with a boy (#15),

had an argument with a boy (#14),

drank her first beer (someone handed it to her),

got caught by her mom (ag!),

had a panic attack (scary),

lost a lacrosse game (she’s the goalie),

failed a math test (she’ll make it up),

hurt Meghan’s feelings (even though they aren’t really friends),

became a social outcast (no one to sit with at lunch)

and had graffiti written about her in the girls’ bathroom (who knows what was in the boys’!?!).

But don’t worry—Ruby lives to tell the tale. And make more lists.

E. Lockhart has had nine official boyfriends, if you count the boy who asked her to go out with him at a seventh-grade dance and then basically never talked to her again. In a drawer somewhere, she’s got a list of every boy she ever kissed. She has never been on a sports team of any kind and got excused from gym class by going to ballet lessons. She has a tattoo, cuts her own hair, and has worn the same perfume since high school (Kiehl’s Chinese Flowers). In her office are Betty and Veronica dolls, a photo of a particularly fat bulldog, an official business card from “Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective,” and the 1920s flapper dress she wore to the prom.

www.randomhouse.com/teens

www.theboyfriendlist.com


Nice things people are saying about The Boyfriend List:

"The Boyfriend List" is a wonderful comic exploration of:
-the maddening (but hilarious) world of mothers and fathers,
-the gut-wrenching politics (and excitement) of multiple crushes,
-and the complications (and kinship) of friendship.
Ruby Oliver is a winning girl (even if she doesn’t realize it), whom we’d all befriend in a heartbeat (as long as she doesn’t have eyes on our guy). A whole lot of fun.
-- Jill Davis, author of Girls’ Poker Night

"Breezy and genuine, with a tender understanding of who really walks the halls in America’s high schools. The Boyfriend List made me laugh and, yeah, I was kind of attracted to Kim."
-- Ned Vizzini, author of Be More Chill and Teen Angst? Nah

"Ruby Oliver’s list of boyfriends is a wonderful and tragic document of our times. I felt kind of bad for some of the guys on the list -- but at the same time, while I read, I kept wishing I was on it."
-- J. Minter, author of The Insiders

From the novel, THE BOYFRIEND LIST, by E. Lockhart.
Here it is, the Boyfriend List. In chronological order.
1. Adam (but he doesn’t count.)
2. Finn (but people just thought so.)
3. Hutch (but I’d rather not think about it.)
4. Gideon (but it was just from afar.)
5. Ben (but he didn’t know.)
6. Tommy (but it was impossible.)
7. Chase (but it was all in his mind.)
8. Sky (but he had someone else.)
9. Michael (but I so didn’t want to.)
10. Angelo (but it was just one date.)
11. Shiv (but it was just one kiss.)
12. Billy (but he didn’t call.)
13. Jackson (yes, okay, he was my boyfriend. Don’t ask me any more about it.)
14. Noel (but it was all a mistake.)
15. Cabbie (but I’m undecided.)

Before anyone reading this thinks to call me a slut -- or even just imagines I’m incredibly popular --- let me point out that the above list includes absolutely every single boy I have ever had the slightest, little, any-kind-of-anything with.
Boys I never kissed are on this list.
Boys I never even talked to are on this list.
Doctor Z told me not to leave anyone off. Not even if I think he’s unimportant.
In fact, especially if I think he’s unimportant.
Doctor Z is my shrink, and she says that for purposes of the list, the boyfriends don’t have to be official. Official, unofficial -- she says it doesn’t matter, so long as I remember the boy and something about what happened.
The list was a homework assignment for my mental health. She told me to write down all the boyfriends, kind-of boyfriends, almost-boyfriends, rumored boyfriends and wished-he-were boyfriends I’ve ever had. Plus, she recommended I take up knitting.
I still have some doubts about Doctor Z, though by now I’ve been seeing her for almost four months. I mean, if I knew a 15 year-old who sat around knitting sweaters all day, I’d definitely think she had some mental health problems.
WHAT HAPPENED, YOU WANT TO KNOW?