Bad Hair Day

Author: Carrie Harris
Recommended Age: Young Adult
Publisher: Delacorte Press
ISBN:  987-0-385-74215-3
Year Published: 2012
No. Pages: 228
Genre: Fantasy
Main Character Gender: Female
Read & Reviewed by: Robyn




This is the sequel to Bad Taste in Boys. Kate Grable is a science geek who just cured a zombie virus. She has signed up for the Future Doctors of America as a part of the high schools pre-med programme and is assigned to shadow Dr.Burr, the county medical examiner. Within 15 minutes, Kate knows this won't be easy especially when Dr.Burr gets arrested for murder. Now, she has a murder to solve, a doctor to free, boyfriend troubles and werewolves on the loose.

I read Bad Hair Day in a week. I couldn't put it down. I thought it was suspenseful in parts, and even though I had an idea of what would happen at other times, I wanted to keep reading. Like Bad Taste in Boys, I thought this novel was funny and the humour created a campy tone. The story was fast paced, cut to the bone and never left  a dull moment. In this fantasy novel, Carrie Harris made the characters seem real and they spoke like real teenagers. They also had the same issues as real teenagers. For example, Kate gets jealous when another girl hits on her boyfriend.

My favourite character was Kate. We both have a strong passion for something- mine is writing and hers, is medicine. We are both adventurous, courageous, smart and resourceful so, I found it appealing to read about a strong female character more representative of me and the girls I know. Kate also has epilepsy, which gave her an additional struggle making her more of a three-dimensional character.

I loved how Harris made me suspend my imagination enough to make me think that this could actually happen. While I was reading, I thought of what character I would be, or what I would do if this happened to my town. I would hope to act like Kate but likely, if there were werewolves in my town, I'd  freak out. Kate is a very logical thinker. When her brother said that it was werewolves, Kate instantly thought of different medical conditions that matched the symptoms of being a werewolf. She kept herself cool and collected when it came to dealing with the werewolves, when others couldn't.

I gave Bad Hair Day a 9 out of 10 because the characters were easy to relate to and their reactions to everyday teenage situations were realistic. The addition of the werewolves and the campy tone made the novel fun and engaging. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick, fun, easy read.