Why I Let My Hair Grow Out by Maryrose Wood (vacation read)

Being sent to your room is one thing. But being sent to another country? Morgan's boyfriend dumped her on the last day of school-it seemed the only thing to do was to hack off her hair and dye the stubble orange. Unfortunately, Morgan's parents freaked and decided a change of scenery would do her good. So they're sending her off on a bike tour of Ireland. But Morgan gets more than she bargained for on the Emerald Isle-including a strange journey into some crazy, once upon a time corner of the past. There, she meets fairies, weefolk, and a hunky warrior-dude named Fergus, and figures out that she's got some growing to do-and she doesn't just mean her hair.
(summary courtesty of Amazon)

There's been a good amount of hype about these books, right? And for the most part it's justified. The thing that really sold the book for me was the spunky main character, Morgan. It's not often that you get to read about a strong girl who doesn't depend on anyone else and makes her own decisions. Usually, you read about girls who are dependant on other people, or are obsessed with guys, or something like that. And really, that sucks. But Morgan's the kind of character that you feel could be that close sister you never had. I think the other pretty great part about the book was the complete and utter wackiness of it. It had a nice light vibe which kept everything moving and just kind of carried you along. It was funny too! I found myself laughing out loud during many parts of the book, earning myself strange looks from the people around me. I think the only thing I wasn't completely satisfied with in the book was that the whole faery world aspect of it wasn't explained well enough for my taste. The ways in which she got into the alternate world were random and unconnected and that whole concept seemed kind of wierd and pointless. I think there was some sort of reason involving brainwaves that was told about but I kept wondering; why does she even need to be a half goddess? It didn't lend much to the overall story, in my opinion and more details and solid facts would have been welcomed. I think the only good part about the faery world was how the Irish setting tied in. That was the one part I liked. Other than that small section of the book, Why I Let My Hair Grow Out was a very nice, light book, and I would recommend it as a fast way to pass time. Just don't get too hung up over the confusing faery world parts.