Book Review: "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild & Got a Life" (Little, Brown and Company, 2006) by Kaavya Viswanathan

By Amanda Linsmeier

How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life (Little, Brown and Company, 2006) by Kaavya Viswanathan is a fun and funny look at a young woman who will do anything to make her dreams come true. Opal Mehta is not your average 17-year old. Besides speaking several languages, being student council vice-president and founder of the Science Bowl Team, she’s got a perfect GPA and her test scores are out of this world. And it’s all been with one goal in mind: Getting into Harvard. Opal and her parents will do anything to make sure she gets into the prestigious school. There’s just one problem: Harvard isn’t sure about her. She is at a loss for words when the Dean of Admissions asks the question, “What do you like to do for fun?” For fun? Everything in her life has been in preparation for Harvard, to make her a better candidate, more successful, so they could not reject her. And now? Opal doesn’t know what to do. She and her parents launch HOWGAL (How Opal Will Get A Life); a strategic plan to make her the most popular girl in school and surely turn her into a more well-rounded teenager, someone Harvard couldn’t possibly say no to. The Mehtas apply their determination to this new idea. They learn teenage slang, watch MTV round the clock, get Opal a new wardrobe and study Vogue. Opal starts her senior year of high school with a fresh perspective and an array of miniskirts and designer shoes. How can the popular kids resist her? More importantly, how can Harvard?

How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life is a great novel. I thought Opal’s parents were hilarious. A little bit unrealistic perhaps, when they left her alone to have a party, but still charming. It was fun to see the transformation of Opal from total geek to one of the most popular girls in school. I don’t remember girls’ being that catty when I was in high school, so this story is either an extreme case or life really is right out of the movie "Mean Girls". Either way, this novel was an interesting character study,and all in all, a lot of fun. I wish Opal would have gotten a little revenge on the snotty cliquey girls or at least told them what was what, but I still liked it. There’s romance, humor and some deep questions for Opal. What is really important in life? Is it possible to be smart and pretty? Who is she? What does she want? You’ll find yourself rooting for Opal the way I did. If you’re past that stage in your life, you’ll recollect high school with fond memories, a bit of disgust, sheer relief that it’s over or even sadness that it’s over. And quite possibly, a combination of them all.