Dating Game

Madison -- aka Mads -- is in love with Sean Benedetto, a hottie Senior. Lina is in love with Dan Shulman, their Interpersonal Human Development (IHD) -- aka Sex Ed -- teacher. And Holly -- aka the Boobmeister - is in love with herself. For their IHD class project, the girls set out to prove that boys are more obsessed with sex than girls. They establish a blog where they post the Dating Game questionnaire, which asks students at their school about their sexual attitudes and experiences. And they post a web site where they provide matchmaking services for students and send them out on actual dates. Overnight the three girls, who consider themselves misfits, become the most popular kids in school! Everyone gets into the Dating Game and a Pandoras box opens wide. When Mads tweaks the matchmaking service to finagle a blind date with Sean, she gets more than she bargained for. Linas newfound popularity gives her the courage to pursue being more than teachers pet, but its not exactly what she dreamed it would be. Obsessed with her reputation, Holly chases down rumors and lies about her sex life while running away from the one guy who really cares about her. When the dust settles on the sexual explosion these girls unleash, the results are not at all what they expected.

This book provides a road map for kids to create their own dating game, plus theres a companion web site that includes a personality quiz and newsletter. Whether its kids talking to kids, kids talking to teachers, or kids talking to parents, this is a fun, frank, and safe way to get kids to open up about sex, drugs, and alcohol. Its all in the book, yet handled with a good dose of humor and great sensitivity. For parents -- and kids -- who want to know what teens are into, the answers they find in The Dating Game will blow their minds!

In THE DATING GAME, the first book in a new series by Natalie Standiford, three friends set up an online dating quiz as part of their school project. All of the quiz takers are students, which allows the girls --- Holly, Mads and Lina --- to get an insiders view of what their fellow students are thinking and feeling when it comes to dating and sex.

The story focuses on the search for the right person to date, the urge to be popular, the feeling of being alone and isolated, and the potential hurt caused by nasty rumors. The situations presented here are ones faced by most high school students, and the girls reactions to them are quite realistic.

Readers will care very much about the main characters. Holly, Mads and Lina are close friends and do not compete with one another. They have their own strengths and weaknesses, and are honest about them. All three have romantic designs on boys who are unattainable for different reasons and for different lengths of time.

The supporting characters are decently developed: Dan, the young teacher, seems charming and the potential boyfriends are interesting. Hollys boyfriend begins dating her because the other boys talked about how friendly she is. He ends up genuinely caring for Holly, but they need to work through some issues before they can have a healthy relationship. The parents are a bit underdeveloped and seem more like caricatures than characters, but I think this was a deliberate choice on the authors part. THE DATING GAME is not about the parents; it revolves around the teenage protagonists.

Probably the best-developed supporting character is Ramona, the gothic student who is in love with Dan. She is an interesting foil for all three main characters and injects a lot of humor into the story.

Every chapter begins with a rotating horoscope of one of the main characters, a catchy twist and an interesting lead-in to the happenings in each chapter. The premise of an online project, and its fresh humor, could keep this series going strong for quite some time.

I enjoyed reading the Dating Game, and think this will be -the- new hit teen series.
Mad, Holly and Lena are close friends and each one of them have their own problems. They have a dating game project for sex-ed class, match-making students in their school who answer questions in their website -- and also finding matches for themselves.

Even though I find the three heroes a little annoying at times -- like Mad trying too hard to get experience, Holly was obsessing about her development and Lena falling in love with her teacher -- the book is still enjoyable to read and as a great sense of humour.

The Dating Game by Natalie Standiford rides the wave of alternative writing styles in young adult literature. Each chapter in this book opens with a whimsical horoscope followed by a mix of dialog, emails, instant message text, and quizzes that will appeal to teenage girls.
The story is set in a California high school for gifted students. Sophomores Madison, Holly and Lina need a project for their Interpersonal Human Development (IHD) class. They conceive the idea of creating and managing an on-line quiz for their fellow students hoping to prove their theory that boys are more obsessed with sexual thoughts than girls. The quiz is also designed as a matchmaking service to help the three girls meet their dream dates.
No complex issues are addressed in this story. Each girl works through a problem with little resolution in the end. Lina has a crush on the IHD teacher that blinds her to a senior boy who is pursuing her. Madison feels she is the last 15 year old virgin in California and sets out to change her image. Holly is the subject of rumors that depict her as a sex crazed wild woman and finds it almost impossible to get her classmates to believe her side of the story.
The characters are two dimensional but the high school setting and the weekend parties are believable. Although the writing style has high appeal for young adult readers I dont recommend this book because of the causal attitude toward teenage drinking and sexual behavior.

The Dating Game-The book the dating game by Natalie Standford was a very interesting book. The main points never rush into love. I think that a girl would want to read this and not a guy. The reason why is that it talks about things about girls and not as much as to guys. But that is my own opinion. The characters are well explained. They have minds of there own. The book is based on the teens and not the adults and teachers but only one guy teacher Dan. Every girl has a crush on him.
The three main characters are Holly, Mads, and Lina. They are best friends. This book kind of relates to me but not as much. It really didnt interest me, it wasnt a pull me in kind of book. But that is what I think. It might be different for other girls. So I wouldnt read it again. Other girls who love reading Love books would want to read this

Sophomores in high school Madison, Lina, and Holly are the best of friends. The three girls are all in deseparate needs: Madison is vying for senior stud Sean Benedetto, Lina is growing more in love with her... teacher, Holly is deseparate for a new boyfriend. Somehow the girls come up with this crazy idea that their new project The Dating Game will help get what they want. Little do they know that this project will arise more conflicts then they bargained for.

Fifteen-year-olds Madison Mads Markowitz and Lina Ozu, along with sixteen-year-old Holly Anderson, are the best of friends. The three of them have been through thick and thin together as sophomores at RSAGE - Rosewood School for Alternative Gifted Education. However, this year, as sophomores, the three girls are expected to do a project for IHD - Interpersonal Human Development - which is nothing more than a fancy name for sex education. Unfortunately, the project has them stumped. Until inspiration strikes, and they decide to set up a blog specifically for RSAGE students, filled with quizzes, and questionnaires, that will help the three girls prove their point: that guys think about sex way more than girls do. The blog becomes a hit, and soon Mads, Lina and Holly have created a matchmaking service, which even they have tried out - not to great results, however. Soon the three girls are the hottest thing in school, but maybe thats not the greatest thing, for Holly is quickly labeled as a tramp, Mads is labeled as a little kid with no-experience, and Lina is madly in love with her IHD teacher, Dan Shulman. Obviously, the dating game is much more complicated than anyone truly anticipated.

I have read many teen lit novels, but I rarely enjoy them as much as I enjoyed Natalie Standifords effort THE DATING GAME. The premise of the novel, and now, series, was wonderful, and really brings a lot of questions to the minds of teen readers - especially females - such as: what do guys really expect from girls and vice versa The characters - Mads, Holly and Lina - were entertaining, and all bring their own quirks to the novel, promising for much more fun and excitement in the sequel BREAKING UP IS REALLY, REALLY HARD TO DO. Overall this was a wonderful addition to the teen genre, that will be scooped up by females quicker than a bowl full of chocolate.

Gr. 9-12. Sophomores Mads, Holly, and Lina are famous at their alternative high school for the Dating Game Web site, which they created for their Interpersonal Human Dynamics class. Students are flocking to the site to take the sex quiz and find the perfect date, and, of course, the site also helps the girls with their own love problems. Each chapter includes a daily astrology report for the character in focus, and the action is advanced through e-mails as well as straight narrative. The teen concerns in the book are authentic (physical development, nicknames that hurt, crushes on teachers), but their treatment and resolution are uneven--and sometimes unrealistic. Girls waiting for a new A List or Gossip Girl, however, will be well pleased. Cindy Welch
Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
Meet Madison, Holly, and Lina, the stars of this smart, sexy new series. When The Dating Game web site they create for a sophomore class project is a smash hit, they become the matchmaking masters of their schooland, they hope, their own lives.