Thank you @wednesdaybooks (partner) for my gifted copy of “The Mall” by Megan McCafferty! (pub 7/28)
New York Times bestselling author Megan McCafferty returns to her roots with this YA coming of age story set in a New Jersey mall.
The year is 1991. Scrunchies, mixtapes & ‘90210’ are, like, totally fresh. Cassie Worthy is psyched to spend the summer after graduation working at the Parkway Center Mall. In six weeks, she & her boyfriend head off to college in NYC to fulfill The Plan: higher education & happily ever after.
But you know what they say about the best laid plans…
Set entirely in a classic “monument to consumerism,” the novel follows Cassie as she finds friendship, love, & ultimately herself, in the most unexpected of places.
Megan McCafferty, beloved author of the Jessica Darling series, takes readers on an epic trip back in time to The Mall.
Ok, by show of hands, who here still has a mall in their city or one nearby that you may or may not frequent? I kinda remember when my local mall was built in 1977. Every store slot was filled & the anchor stores were JCPenney, Elder Beermans, May Co & Montgomery Ward (later that became a Sears. (The only one of those still there [barely hanging on] is JCP.)
My first job was at The Gap at our mall & I also worked at The Limited, Deb & Sam Goody (which is a major part in this book in a couple ways.) Even though this is geared towards the YA gen, I feel those of us that were teens (or maybe young 20’s) in the early 90’s will appreciate & relate to the name drops, fashion style & pop culture references even more.
From Bath & Body Works (hello, cucumber melon) to Spencer’s Gifts (STILL at my mall), to Cabbage Patch dolls (who have a co-starring role in this story), McCafferty’s ‘The Mall‘ was a true blast from my past & I really liked it. It’s a pretty quick read, laugh out-loud at times, atmospheric, & also touches on a couple heavier subjects.
‘The Mall‘ is a coming of age, nostalgia-filled, journey back in time, with a fun, mall based treasure hunt (like ‘The Goonies’ minus the gangsters & murder).
(Oh, & remember when Mark Wahlberg was dancing around with his Calvin Klein underwear showing & singing about ‘Good Vibrations’ w/ his Funky Bunch before becoming a huge actor??) Yes, that’s right, fellow Gen X’ers…Marky Mark is almost 50 now!
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What others are saying about Megan McCafferty’s ‘The Mall‘:
“With wit and more than a little hairspray, McCafferty dives into the 1990s with this snappily written self-empowerment novel set beneath the fluorescent lights of a suburban New Jersey mall.” – Publishers Weekly
“Megan McCafferty departs from her best-selling Jessica Darling series to conjure this charming throwback.” – Columbia Magazine
“Complete with Orange Julius, Cabbage Patch Kids, and Sam Goody, this book is a blast to the past!” – Manhattan Book Review
“The Mall was to 1991 teenagers what the iPhone is to today’s generation: EVERYTHING. This delightful novel about that particular time and place is loaded with fun, warmth, intelligence, big hair and an even bigger heart. I loved it.” — New York Times bestselling author Rachel Cohn
“Both a laugh-out-loud pean to those bygone cathedrals of the 1990s, and a zippy coming-of-age tale, THE MALL is a delightful read for any generation. So tease your hair, grab your hotdog on a stick and prepare to have a freaking blast!” — Gayle Forman, New York Times bestselling author of If I Stay and I Have Lost My Way
“What a pleasure it is to spend time in a McCafferty universe. Her writing is sharp, smart, sexy and oh-so-real. I’ll read her forever.” — Rebecca Serle, New York Times bestselling author of In Five Years
“Totally rad! This former 1990s mall teen loved The Mall, an ode to tall bangs, boys with good taste in music, and female friendship, set in the only place that mattered. What a joy to have a new book from Megan McCafferty, who knows exactly how to make us laugh, cry, and fall in love with her characters.” — Amy Spalding, author of The Summer of Jordi Perez and The New Guy
“A delightful, funny, sweet and affecting real life adventure with such a big heart, it’ll make you cry the happiest tears. The Mall is something special.” — Courtney Summers, New York Times bestselling author of Sadie
Megan McCafferty writes fiction for tweens, teens and teens-at-heart of all ages. The author of several novels, she’s best known for Sloppy Firsts and four more books in the New York Times bestselling Jessica Darling series.
Described in her first review as “Judy Blume meets Dorothy Parker” (Wall Street Journal), she’s been trying to live up to that high standard ever since.
*Mom Loves Reading* 