There sits Devi. She is boyfriendless and friendless, and she wishes that she could redo it all. “Gimme A Call” by Sarah Mlynowski, published in 2010, is about Devi, a regular girl in her Senior year of highschool who has just survived a breakup with her boyfriend Bryan.
Devi wishes she did not let Karin Ferris cut her bangs in third grade. She wishes that she didn’t leave her retainer in her napkin and throw it out in sophomore year. And most of all, she wishes she had never gone out with Bryan in the first place. When Devi is at the water fountain in the mall and drops her phone, something crazy happens. She goes into the fountain to get her phone, and when she does, it’s broken. She can’t call, text, or do anything with her phone. Except when she presses the send button, the phone starts ringing. When someone finally picks up, Devi realizes that she is talking to herself… When she was a freshmen!
Devi has a chance to change everything: to not go out with Bryan and not let anyone get in the way and to keep her social status high as well as a grade A average. Can Freshmen Devi handle all of the pressure? “This is my life. These are my decisions. If there is one thing she taught me, it’s that she made her choices. Now it’s my turn to make mine.” If things go all wrong, is there going back? How will Senior Devi get Freshman Devi to believe her? Senior Devi has to decide exactly what she will tell — or not tell — to Freshmen Devi. Senior Devi has to bend the truth about a couple of things because she thinks that it will benefit Freshmen Devi, but more importantly will help herself now. What will Senior Devi tell Freshmen Devi and will Freshmen Devi listen or rebel?
“‘Oh good, you know me,’ she says. ‘I do?’ I ask. ‘Well… you just said my name.’ I press the phone hard against my ear to try to block out the chaotic noise of the caf. Am I missing something? ‘What are you talking about?’ ‘Who is this?’ she asks again. ‘This is Devorah Ba-’ I stop in mid name. Why am I giving out personal info to a stranger on the phone? ‘Sorry, but who is this?’ ‘Look,’ she barks. ‘My jeans are sopping in green goo and I’m having a really bad day. Can you please just tell me who I’m talking to?’ ‘Um…,’ I say, and then giggle. I giggle a lot….. ‘Obviously you know me. You just said my name,’ the girl on the phone snaps. ‘Are you going to tell me who you are?’ Er. Is this some kind of scam? A telemarketer trying to get my information so she can steal my identity and charge a Thanksgiving to Panama on a fake credit card? If only I had a credit card. Maybe I should steal my own identity. Instead, I ask, ‘Would you like to tell me the number you’re trying to call?’” (pg. 14-15)
This is the first conversation of Senior Devi talking to Freshman Devi. For a lot of the book they are talking to each other, and this is the first conversation that they’ve had. This exchange shows the theme of fate vs freewill. Senior Devi lived her whole life making her own decisions, and when she looks back at them, she finds that they might not have been the best decisions. She now has the opportunity to change what her life has become. She can change her fate. Freshmen Devi now lives her life with someone else making her decisions, and for the most part, does what Senior Devi wants her to. Another thing that this book focuses on is obedience vs rebellion. Freshmen Devi has to make a few choices throughout the book. Should she listen to Senior Devi or not? Freshmen Devi knows that Senior Devi knows what’s best, but sometimes she questions whether she really knows best. Another theme in this book is balance. Senior Devi pushes Freshmen Devi so much. By the end of the book, Freshmen Devi realizes that she doesn’t just have to work her butt off to get into Harvard and create the high school girls golf team. She realizes that there is a balance between fun and work.
I would recommend this book because I think that it is funny, crazy, insane, and well written. If you like fantasy books you will totally like “Gimme A Call.” There is excitement and mischief. It is definitely a page turner. Everyone can connect to “Gimme A Call.” There are a lot of things in everyone’s life that they wish they could go back and change. This book is so unique and special and it’s not like anything I’ve ever read.
If you could change something about your life what would it be? And would changing that decision change you forever? Find out what Freshman Devi and Senior Devi do in “Gimme A Call” by Sarah Mlynowski.
