Cammie Bliss, a sophomore in Lakewood, New York, struggles to overcome her stalker-like tendencies. Her best friend Rosie helps her to change her ways. She begins by introducing her to Toby Waxman, a new student from Pittsburgh. Rosie prefers to call Cammie a “hopeless romantic” instead of a stalker. She figures that if she forces Cammie to talk to Toby instead of stalking him like she has done with every one of her past crushes, Cammie can change. Mr. Mendez, her English teacher and adult confidant, pushes her to write about her negative reputation in the schools's literary magazine or newspaper, both of which he advises. Cammie immediately senses the humiliation and further stigma that could cause her, and refuses.
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Soon, Cammie and Toby become friends: eating lunch together, writing together at Mr. Mendez's Writer's Retreat after school, and having friendly conversations. At one point, Toby defends her honor when two other students try to expose her past stalking escapades to him. Soon after, Cammie and Toby meet at the old closed-down theater in town and sneak inside. This becomes her first “normal” interaction with a boy.
At home, Cammie encounters more stress: her parents' constant arguing. Even though they routinely try to engage her in conversations about her life, Cammie feels nothing but embarrassment from their questions. When she reads a pro/con list her mom makes about her impending decision to divorce her dad, she tries to disregard it. To add to the tension, her brother Henry, a freshman, begins dating Tara Simpson, a sophomore who despises Cammie. In fact, Tara is the first one to expose Cammie as a stalker in the seventh grade.
Even though Cammie's friendship with Toby blooms, she still feels the urge to stalk him: she tracks him to the bathroom, steals his address from the school office, rides her bike by his house, asks probing questions about his past, and digs through his trash cans. To her horror, Toby catches Cammie digging through the trash in an attempt to learn about his past in Pittsburgh. Disappointed in his only true friend in Lakewood, he sends her away, but later makes her admit she has a problem so they can move on from it together.
After this instance, Cammie decides to take Mr. Mendez's advice, and she writes an open letter to the student body in which she admits to the accuracy of her label as a stalker. That same day, Toby tells her about a dark side of his past: he was hospitalized due to depression, mainly because of his obsession with a girl he was seeing. Their abilities to be open about their weaknesses bring them closer together, and they become boyfriend and girlfriend.
Best part of story, including ending:
I really like how Moore makes both Cammie and Toby honest individuals; she allows both characters to grow and mature.
Best scene in story:
I enjoy the scene in the movie theater; Toby decides to have a private intervention for Cammie's stalking, and she responds in a positive way. This is the scene when they become more than friends.
Opinion about the main character:
I like Cammie's courage to come clean about her reputation to the student body, to Toby, and to herself. She serves as a model of what can happen if a person shares her truth.
