OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy

OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy

Release Date: May 10, 2011

Publisher: Walker And Company

Age Group: Young Adult 

Pages: 256

Summary:  Jewish girl. Christian camp. Holy moly.

Ellie Taylor loves nothing better than a good argument. So when she gets accepted to the Christian Society Speech and Performing Arts summer camp, she's sure that if she wins the final tournament, it'll be her ticket to a scholarship to the best speech school in the country. Unfortunately, the competition at CSSPA is hot-literally. His name is Devon and, whether she likes it or not, being near him makes her sizzle. Luckily she's confident enough to take on the challenge-until she begins to suspect that the private scholarship's benefactor has negative feelings toward Jews. Will hiding her true identity and heritage be worth a shot at her dream?

Debut author Amy Fellner Dominy mixes sweet romance, surprising secrets, and even some matzo ball soup to cook up a funny yet heartfelt story about an outspoken girl who must learn to speak out for herself.

My Thoughts: When I first heard about this one, I was very excited. Because of the arguing. I love reading about a girl and a boy debating against each other and than starting to "like" each other. It sounded really sweet. 

We are introduced to Ellie who is a teenager. She isn't just any normal teenager. Her family is very religious. She comes from a mostly jewish family even though there is a Lutheran in there. Ellie’s father is Lutheran but mother is Jewish.  She gets accepted into the Christian Society Speech and Performing Arts summer camp. This is exciting for Ellie because she believes if she can do good she can get accepted into the best school for speech in the country. She needs this scholarship because its the only way she can go there. The school is too expensive otherwise. 

She shows up the first day of camp and goes head to head with Devon, who of course happens to be the grandson of the women running the scholarship. She makes a fool of herself, so much for first impressions.

Ellie and Devon face off and they soon learn to respect each other. Even though they are competing against each other, they try not to let that get in the way of their blossoming friendship. Of course Ellie can't like a guy. She's never been into boys much. She's too focused for that. And, Devon is so gorgeous, there is no way he can like Ellie like that, right???

So many issues arise in this novel. Religion is a big topic. Ellie wants to make her grandfather proud by standing up about Jews, but also doesn't want to lose the scholarship by saying she's not fully Christian. Than, there is also the morals of is it ok to lie if its to get what you want when the person your lying too seems biased? Even if you feel crummy about it? Discrimination presents its big head in OyMG.

OyMG was a nice novel. It dealt with these issues nicely and I liked seeing the relationship between Ellie and her grandfather. We can tell she really really loves him. I also liked watching Devon squirm a few times and the chemistry between Ellie and Devon was hot!

Overall: A nice debut novel! If you like debate, want to know more about religion, or want to see what happens between Ellie and Devon read OyMG now!

Cover: Like it! It does make it feel like a tween novel though, when in reality it is definitely a teen novel. Its cute though.

What I'd Give It: