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Girl Talk #33
Randy and the Perfect Boy
The new exchange student from Costa Rica appears to be perfect in every way except that Randy can't seem to get along with him.
- GenresYoung AdultChildrens
116 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1994
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June 25, 2024Randy and the Perfect Boy
Randy isn’t paying any attention in class to Mr. Gray so he has to repeat that a young man from Costa Rica named Rodolfo Ortiz will be joining them for an exchange program. He was supposed to be staying with another student but her mother suddenly took ill. Now they have to find a new family for him to stay with for a month. Randy was one of the four people (families) that volunteered and she was disappointed not to get picked. Sabs says she would be her family already has enough going on, but Mr. Gray says he’ll just pick from the four families that have already asksed. Katie says she can’t do it because she got permission before her parents got married. So her name is taken out. That leaves Winston and Arizona. Allison draws the name of the winner. It’s Randy and she can’t wait to teach him all about American kids and what’s in and what’s not.
They spend a whole chapter talking about what Randy should show him and wondering cliché things like wondering if he’ll only speak Spanish and talking about the things they havce that he’s probably never seen (like CD players). Al tells Ranny she needs to check out a book on Cosa Rica.
All of the girls go to the airport to meet him when he arrives. Katie spots this tall, thin, dark haired, gorgeous guy in a suit and says she wishes her were Rudolpho. Turns out it is. Since his name is so long, Randy decides to call him “Rudy.” He doesn’t guess Randy right off the bat because he thinks “Randy” would be a boy. Randy tells him she’d rather go by Randy and then tells him her real name is Rowena. He seems to like Rowena better. On the way home. They show him the sites. Rudy nods but doesn’t seem impressed. Then he gets annoyed when they ask how he likes America so far.
After they drop Sab, Katie, and Al off, they show him the barn. Rudy gets a little offended because of the sleeping arrangements. They don’t have an extra room for him so he’ll either have to stay in the living room with screens set up or take Rany’s room. She says she didn’t figure this would be a problem. He takes it to mean she thought people in Costa Rica stays in small huts. (Which is kind of what she meant). He says he’s always had his own room for the record. So, Randy offers him hers. But he says he’ll sleep in the living room. The old arrangement was that he’d have his own room. They argue over it and then it’s decided he’ll have Randy’s room. He thanks them and says that while he’s there he hopes they see him as a son and a brother. He’s impressed by Randy’s drums and wants to know what a wombat is, but Randy doesn’t know. Randy offers to let him listen in next time they play. Randy gets a little defensive when he makes the comment about him not thinking playing the drums would be something she’d do. Then he comments the place is too small. Randy is getting frustrated. It seems like nothing is right for him. She wants to practice and let off steam but she lets him have the room for get unpacked and have a nap. He tells her to let him know when she needs to practice. Randy tells him to come down for dinner if he’s hungry. They eat around six or seven. He says he usually eats around nine or ten.. Randy gets a little upset when he teases her about shortening names but decides to be cool. Later tho she does complain to M about having to eat later. M just tells her to loosen up. He’s their guest and it won’t kill her.
M orders Chinese food, but Rudy had his heart set on a home cooked meal (he wants tuna casserole and gets M to agree to make it the next day). Randy now isn’t feeling sure about this guy and all his requests. But she decides not to give up on him, At school the next day, Stacey introduces herself to him. Rudy responds politely and with interest. Randy tells him she doesn’t have to suck up to Stacey but he doesn’t see the problem. He thinks he *should* be treating the principal with respect. He surprisingly opens the door for door for Randy on their way inside the class. Randy doesn’t understand why this impresses the teacher. Because RANDY MIXES UP Italian and Spanish, the teacher says that Rudy can help Randy with the languages. Rudy is happy to do this. Randy is NOT happy that he’s been there all of a day and already he’s going to be *her* turor. So she tries to say she’ll help him with his English also, but the teacher says she really doesn’t think he’ll need her help. Randy vents to Al that she thought he’d be more excited. Al says,maybe they just need time to get adjusted to each other. Arizona and Billy seem to hit it off with Rudy and Randy’s glad he’s made new friends. At lunch, Mr. Handsen invites Rudy to sit at his table. Randy vents to her friends about all the adjustments but decides she can put up with him for a month.
Al comes by to help Rany with an assignment that Mr. Gray gives her to do about Costa Rica. Then Randy bitches to her some more about Tudy. Randy is ticked off because Rudy asked her to iron his shirt. Al says he’s probably use to his mom doing the housework. She suggests that Randy talk to him. Randy says he’s not that easy to talk to. Really she’s just tired of him being around all the time. Katie kind of agrees because he was shocked she was on the hockey team like he thought it was wrong. Randy says he had the same attitude with her playing the drums. Sabs, Katie, Al, and Randy are going to hang out at the mall and Randy is excited that she won’t hace to see him. But Sabs invites him to go to the mall with them. They leave before Sabs can iron his shirt like he said she would.
Randy again insults Rudy by insinuating their malls are bigger. Then again when Randy says she’ll pay for them all to get drinks. He s ayshe has money and that he’ll pay and *that* turns into a disagreement. Katie and Sabs then interrupt and ask him if he’s thought about suvenirs and suggest post cards. Sabs and Al go with Rudy. Katie stays behind to go with Randy to get a soda. Randy is upset because Al and Sabs like Rudy. Katie says she had to get use to her brother and Jean Paul. They had the same attitude about girls at first. But Katie says she has to put some effort into into it. She says find something they both like. Katie suggest skateboarding.
Randy invites Rudy to go skateboarding with Arizonna. She mentions she heard him talking to this about Arizona, but he says he mentions they did surg not that he was a sufer. He does accept the offer to skateboard eventually. Randy falls because Rudy starts chasing after her and causes her to miss the curbs. Rudy thinks that what Randy did is stupid. Randy tells her it’s stupid *he* made her miss her jump. So they argue and then Randy challenges him to ride to a nearby fountain. He falls when initially getting on but he *does* make it to the fountain. He admits it's fun but won’t take lessons from Randy. He insists on learning on his own. Randy says she doesn’t think Rudy wants to take lessons from a girl (to Arizonna). He instead asks Arizonna to teach him. Randy and Rudy avoid each other the rest of the weekend and at school until Social Studies.
Mr. Gray isn’t happy with Randy’s report and thinks it’s shallow. Particularly since she’s got a guest from Costa Rica. He’s disappointed in Rudy’s too. He didn’t want statistics. So he tells them to do it over and they have a week. He wants them to work *together* and tell him what they learned.
So, Allison thinks of a solution. She calls Rudy and asks him to go see Randy play at the Road house. (She also tells him off a little bit for telling her it’s not “proper” for her to ask him instead of the other way around). In exchange, Randy will go with his to a festival sponsered by a Latin American cultural group. He says on one condition Randy can’t insult his culture. Al says ok but he can’t insult her either. He also makes her come as a peacekeeper. He says h’’ll do it but he won ‘t enjoy it. Al invites Katie and Sabrina.
Rudy comes up to Randy after her set and tells her he enjoyed it. He even buys her a soda. She asks if they have rock in Costa Rica. He rolls his eyes and tells her he does have rock and cassette tapes. He even tells her she came in late on the second song. He says they do have the radio there. He throws a new word at her Ticos and says they like to dance. Randy says she didn’t know and Rudy points out she wasn’t interested in knowing. Randy apologizes for being a jerk but is curious to know if he likes to dance why wasn’t he and he says he was stuck talking to Stacey and all she wanted to talk about was her clothes. Randy tells Al to dance with Rudy. Rudy thinks the guy should ask the girl and Al says its either yes or no but he has to act like he’s in Amrica. So he agrees and says yes.
Before the festival, Randy admits to her friends while shopping that her expectations were a little ridiculous. They all agree he’s a great guy. They eat, they dance, they have fun. Rudy meets some guys and goes off with them. Randy learns some new words. Randy does better on her report. What she takes out of it most is that she has to remember that not everyone from a foreign country is the same. Just like people, there aren’t the same. Rudy’s report goes better too.
My Thoughts
This wasn’t what I thought. I thought this would be about Randy finding the perfect boy. Although I kind of didn’t want that because Randy is the only one that’s self assured enough in herself not to need a “perfect boy”. I’m not even sure why they called this book Randy and the Perfect Boy. Unless they were being sarcastic. This guy was sefinitely not perfect. Just like with Randy and Katie he rubbed me the wrong way. And then this book was slightly boring because a lot of it was statistics and facts about Costa Rica and the other was Randy whining about the adjustments she had to make because of him. Then a lot of it was them bumping heads over the same stuff. So I really wasn’t a fan of this one.
Rating: 5
Randy isn’t paying any attention in class to Mr. Gray so he has to repeat that a young man from Costa Rica named Rodolfo Ortiz will be joining them for an exchange program. He was supposed to be staying with another student but her mother suddenly took ill. Now they have to find a new family for him to stay with for a month. Randy was one of the four people (families) that volunteered and she was disappointed not to get picked. Sabs says she would be her family already has enough going on, but Mr. Gray says he’ll just pick from the four families that have already asksed. Katie says she can’t do it because she got permission before her parents got married. So her name is taken out. That leaves Winston and Arizona. Allison draws the name of the winner. It’s Randy and she can’t wait to teach him all about American kids and what’s in and what’s not.
They spend a whole chapter talking about what Randy should show him and wondering cliché things like wondering if he’ll only speak Spanish and talking about the things they havce that he’s probably never seen (like CD players). Al tells Ranny she needs to check out a book on Cosa Rica.
All of the girls go to the airport to meet him when he arrives. Katie spots this tall, thin, dark haired, gorgeous guy in a suit and says she wishes her were Rudolpho. Turns out it is. Since his name is so long, Randy decides to call him “Rudy.” He doesn’t guess Randy right off the bat because he thinks “Randy” would be a boy. Randy tells him she’d rather go by Randy and then tells him her real name is Rowena. He seems to like Rowena better. On the way home. They show him the sites. Rudy nods but doesn’t seem impressed. Then he gets annoyed when they ask how he likes America so far.
After they drop Sab, Katie, and Al off, they show him the barn. Rudy gets a little offended because of the sleeping arrangements. They don’t have an extra room for him so he’ll either have to stay in the living room with screens set up or take Rany’s room. She says she didn’t figure this would be a problem. He takes it to mean she thought people in Costa Rica stays in small huts. (Which is kind of what she meant). He says he’s always had his own room for the record. So, Randy offers him hers. But he says he’ll sleep in the living room. The old arrangement was that he’d have his own room. They argue over it and then it’s decided he’ll have Randy’s room. He thanks them and says that while he’s there he hopes they see him as a son and a brother. He’s impressed by Randy’s drums and wants to know what a wombat is, but Randy doesn’t know. Randy offers to let him listen in next time they play. Randy gets a little defensive when he makes the comment about him not thinking playing the drums would be something she’d do. Then he comments the place is too small. Randy is getting frustrated. It seems like nothing is right for him. She wants to practice and let off steam but she lets him have the room for get unpacked and have a nap. He tells her to let him know when she needs to practice. Randy tells him to come down for dinner if he’s hungry. They eat around six or seven. He says he usually eats around nine or ten.. Randy gets a little upset when he teases her about shortening names but decides to be cool. Later tho she does complain to M about having to eat later. M just tells her to loosen up. He’s their guest and it won’t kill her.
M orders Chinese food, but Rudy had his heart set on a home cooked meal (he wants tuna casserole and gets M to agree to make it the next day). Randy now isn’t feeling sure about this guy and all his requests. But she decides not to give up on him, At school the next day, Stacey introduces herself to him. Rudy responds politely and with interest. Randy tells him she doesn’t have to suck up to Stacey but he doesn’t see the problem. He thinks he *should* be treating the principal with respect. He surprisingly opens the door for door for Randy on their way inside the class. Randy doesn’t understand why this impresses the teacher. Because RANDY MIXES UP Italian and Spanish, the teacher says that Rudy can help Randy with the languages. Rudy is happy to do this. Randy is NOT happy that he’s been there all of a day and already he’s going to be *her* turor. So she tries to say she’ll help him with his English also, but the teacher says she really doesn’t think he’ll need her help. Randy vents to Al that she thought he’d be more excited. Al says,maybe they just need time to get adjusted to each other. Arizona and Billy seem to hit it off with Rudy and Randy’s glad he’s made new friends. At lunch, Mr. Handsen invites Rudy to sit at his table. Randy vents to her friends about all the adjustments but decides she can put up with him for a month.
Al comes by to help Rany with an assignment that Mr. Gray gives her to do about Costa Rica. Then Randy bitches to her some more about Tudy. Randy is ticked off because Rudy asked her to iron his shirt. Al says he’s probably use to his mom doing the housework. She suggests that Randy talk to him. Randy says he’s not that easy to talk to. Really she’s just tired of him being around all the time. Katie kind of agrees because he was shocked she was on the hockey team like he thought it was wrong. Randy says he had the same attitude with her playing the drums. Sabs, Katie, Al, and Randy are going to hang out at the mall and Randy is excited that she won’t hace to see him. But Sabs invites him to go to the mall with them. They leave before Sabs can iron his shirt like he said she would.
Randy again insults Rudy by insinuating their malls are bigger. Then again when Randy says she’ll pay for them all to get drinks. He s ayshe has money and that he’ll pay and *that* turns into a disagreement. Katie and Sabs then interrupt and ask him if he’s thought about suvenirs and suggest post cards. Sabs and Al go with Rudy. Katie stays behind to go with Randy to get a soda. Randy is upset because Al and Sabs like Rudy. Katie says she had to get use to her brother and Jean Paul. They had the same attitude about girls at first. But Katie says she has to put some effort into into it. She says find something they both like. Katie suggest skateboarding.
Randy invites Rudy to go skateboarding with Arizonna. She mentions she heard him talking to this about Arizona, but he says he mentions they did surg not that he was a sufer. He does accept the offer to skateboard eventually. Randy falls because Rudy starts chasing after her and causes her to miss the curbs. Rudy thinks that what Randy did is stupid. Randy tells her it’s stupid *he* made her miss her jump. So they argue and then Randy challenges him to ride to a nearby fountain. He falls when initially getting on but he *does* make it to the fountain. He admits it's fun but won’t take lessons from Randy. He insists on learning on his own. Randy says she doesn’t think Rudy wants to take lessons from a girl (to Arizonna). He instead asks Arizonna to teach him. Randy and Rudy avoid each other the rest of the weekend and at school until Social Studies.
Mr. Gray isn’t happy with Randy’s report and thinks it’s shallow. Particularly since she’s got a guest from Costa Rica. He’s disappointed in Rudy’s too. He didn’t want statistics. So he tells them to do it over and they have a week. He wants them to work *together* and tell him what they learned.
So, Allison thinks of a solution. She calls Rudy and asks him to go see Randy play at the Road house. (She also tells him off a little bit for telling her it’s not “proper” for her to ask him instead of the other way around). In exchange, Randy will go with his to a festival sponsered by a Latin American cultural group. He says on one condition Randy can’t insult his culture. Al says ok but he can’t insult her either. He also makes her come as a peacekeeper. He says h’’ll do it but he won ‘t enjoy it. Al invites Katie and Sabrina.
Rudy comes up to Randy after her set and tells her he enjoyed it. He even buys her a soda. She asks if they have rock in Costa Rica. He rolls his eyes and tells her he does have rock and cassette tapes. He even tells her she came in late on the second song. He says they do have the radio there. He throws a new word at her Ticos and says they like to dance. Randy says she didn’t know and Rudy points out she wasn’t interested in knowing. Randy apologizes for being a jerk but is curious to know if he likes to dance why wasn’t he and he says he was stuck talking to Stacey and all she wanted to talk about was her clothes. Randy tells Al to dance with Rudy. Rudy thinks the guy should ask the girl and Al says its either yes or no but he has to act like he’s in Amrica. So he agrees and says yes.
Before the festival, Randy admits to her friends while shopping that her expectations were a little ridiculous. They all agree he’s a great guy. They eat, they dance, they have fun. Rudy meets some guys and goes off with them. Randy learns some new words. Randy does better on her report. What she takes out of it most is that she has to remember that not everyone from a foreign country is the same. Just like people, there aren’t the same. Rudy’s report goes better too.
My Thoughts
This wasn’t what I thought. I thought this would be about Randy finding the perfect boy. Although I kind of didn’t want that because Randy is the only one that’s self assured enough in herself not to need a “perfect boy”. I’m not even sure why they called this book Randy and the Perfect Boy. Unless they were being sarcastic. This guy was sefinitely not perfect. Just like with Randy and Katie he rubbed me the wrong way. And then this book was slightly boring because a lot of it was statistics and facts about Costa Rica and the other was Randy whining about the adjustments she had to make because of him. Then a lot of it was them bumping heads over the same stuff. So I really wasn’t a fan of this one.
Rating: 5
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February 9, 2023randy was sooooo annoying, insensitive, and ignorant in this book. i'm glad everyone lowkey told her off, especially mr. grey when he gave her a taste of her own medicine. i hate that she called rodolfo by a random nickname because his name was "too long" for her cruella looking ass to say. i have a name people might have trouble pronouncing, but either you learn how to say it correctly or don't even bother talking to me, bye.
July 9, 2013
these books were like reading a diary each book was different though it was like you were in school again.
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