View source for Lottie Biggs is (Not) Desperate by Hayley Long

{{infobox2
|title=Lottie Biggs is (Not) Desperate
|author=Hayley Long
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Teens
|summary=Lottie Biggs is lacking some experience but how's she going to get it when her BF is determined to save his energies for the rugby field?  Funny but with some serious underlying messages.  Recommended
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=224
|publisher=Macmillan Children's Books
|date=May 2010
|isbn=978-0330479752
|aznuk=033047975X
|aznus=033047975X
|cover=033047975X 
}}

Lottie Biggs, who's in her mid-teens is recovering from what's described as a 'mental disorder of a reasonably significant nature'.  She's having counselling from Blake (from New Zealand) who has some rather unusual turns of phrase and looks like Johnny Depp, but without the pirate make-up.  All in all she's doing quite well.   Gareth Stingecombe is still the love of her life and to seal the bond even tighter she gets a Saturday job in his mother's hairdressing salon.  This might, or might not, turn out to be a mistake given what the mother-in-law-to-be thinks constitutes a trendy hairstyle.

What's really on Lottie's mind though is her, well, lack of experience in certain areas.  But – and it's a big question – how is she to get that experience when Gareth is determined to preserve his energies for the rugby field?  As if all this wasn't bad enough Lottie seems to be doing her best to fall out with her best friend, Goose.  There are not many people with whom you can wander round a shopping centre pretending to be Janice and Jonice from Kentucky who are interested in buying a fanny pack.  There are even fewer who support you through that mental disorder of a reasonably significant nature.

There – you've got the picture?  I couldn't stop laughing.  If it wasn't the 'trendy' hairstyle which put me in mind of a young Princess Elizabeth it was Lottie's attempts to seduce Gareth which result in him throwing up.  Lottie has sketches in her book – fortunately she managed not to elaborate on that vision.  I might have been laughing but underneath all this are a couple of serious points (they're sneaky though and you might not realise they're being made) about the value of same-sex friendship and the fact that you really don't need to dash into a sexual relationship.  Throw in the thought that mental health problems are not uncommon and there's a lot there to think about.

It's funny.  (Did I mention that already?)  It's written in the way that teen girls talk and the book is going to speak to them.  I'm sure that you know someone who will love it.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
If this book appeals then you (or the teenager in your life) will love [[Ember Fury by Cathy Brett]].

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