Enthusiasm - by Polly Shulman (Paperback)

About the Book

A first-time novelist pens a Jane Austen-inspired romantic comedy of errors as two girls get a part in the boys' school musical. What follows is a series of misinterpreted--and missed--signals, dating mishaps, and awkward incidents. This edition includes a discussion guide.

Book Synopsis

"When someone asks for a reading suggestion, Enthusiasm is the first word off my tongue." --Stephenie Meyer, author of Twilight

"There is little more likely to exasperate a person of sense than finding herself tied by affection and habit to an Enthusiast."
Julie knows from bitter experience: her best friend, Ashleigh, is an Enthusiast. Ashleigh's current fancy is also Julie's own passion, Pride and Prejudice, and the heroine's quest for True Love. And so Julie finds herself swept along with Ashleigh, dressed in vintage frocks and sneaking into a dance at the local all-boys' prep school. There they discover several likely candidates for True Love, including the handsome and sensitive Parr. And Julie begins to wonder if maybe this obsession of Ashleigh's isn't so bad after all. . . .

Fans of Jane Austen and Meg Cabot, and Maureen Johnson alike will swoon for Polly Shulman's charming novel.

Review Quotes

"When someone asks for a reading suggestion, Enthusiasm is the first word off my tongue." --Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight Saga

"Enthusiasm, like Pride and Prejudice, bubbles over with romantic misunderstandings and comic confusion." --New York Times Book Review, an Editors' Choice book

"Enthusiasm has the makings of an instant classic!" --Time magazine

"A fanciful romance . . . delightfully wholesome." --Newsday

*"Wry [and] engaging . . . an impressive first novel."--Booklist, starred review

"A charming romantic comedy!"--SLJ

"Witty exchanges, comic errors and miscommunications that could be taken right out of a Jane Austen novel. Readers [will be] caught up in this debut novel's romantic whimsy and humor."--Publishers Weekly

"Equal parts romance and farce, this novel is an enjoyable read. Julie's wry voice and self-deprecating humor will make the conclusion satisfying."--VOYA

About the Author

Polly Shulman is also the author of The Grimm Legacy (a Bank Street Best Book and Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Finalist) and its companion novel, The Wells Bequest. She has written for many newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Discover, Newsday, Salon, Slate, Smithsonian, Scientific American, Archaeology, and The Village Voice. She has never dared to crash a dance, but when she was in high school she sometimes wrote her math homework in rhyme and meter. She majored in math at Yale and grew up in New York City, where she lives with her husband in a tall old building guarded by gargoyles.