Book Review – Della Says OMG! by Keris Stainton

Della’s over the moon when she kisses her long-standing crush at a party – but then she discovers her diary has disappeared…

When scans of embarrassing pages are sent to her mobile and appear on Facebook, Della’s distraught – how can she enjoy her first proper romance when someone, somewhere, knows all her deepest, darkest secrets?

A couple of things drew me to this book before I’d even read a page. The first was the cover – the black background with the pink and green detail is very eye catching. Secondly, at the bottom of the cover there is a quote from Meg Cabot saying that Della Says is, “A fun delicious treat you’ll want to eat up in a single bite?” As a huge fan of Meg’s books, what better recommendation could there be?!

This is Keris Stainton’s debut novel.  It tells of Della’s summer as she works at her parent’s deli, hangs out with friends, starts her first relationship (with the boy she’s had a crush on since she was five!) and deals with someone trying to spoil it all for her by publishing extracts from her diary. I kept a diary all through my teenage years and I have to say, the thought of having parts of it out in the big wide world horrifies me so it was interesting to see how Della dealt with the situation … I think she was a lot more sensible than I would have been!

Although the diary storyline keeps the plot moving, for me, this book is really about first love and the Della and Dan relationship is written brilliantly. The story is written from Della’s perspective giving us her thoughts and experiences first hand and Keris has really captured what it feels like to be a teenager – all those questions and new feelings! Della’s character is really ‘normal’ and I mean this as the biggest compliment. I think it’s incredibly hard to write a character that so many teenage girls will absolutely identify with and Keris has got it spot on.  The supporting characters, especially Della’s parents (who I loved) are also completely believable and the relationships between the friends are very real.

Della is a brilliant role model for teenage girls and if I ever have a daughter I’ll be passing my copy on to her. Not only does Della get the message across that it’s OK to be who you are and that ‘good’ does not mean ‘boring’ – it is also ‘laugh out loud’ funny. True to Meg’s words, I did read Della in a single sitting and it is a yummy read! I’m looking forward to Keris Stainton’s next book already.

You can find out more about Keris Stainton and read an excerpt from Della at: http://www.keris-stainton.com

4/5