Genre: YA Contemporary
Published: December 9, 2014 by HarperTeen
Length: 304 pages
Source: HarperTeen (ARC)
“Top Five Things That Are Ruining Chloe’s Day
5) Working the 6:30 a.m. shift at GoodFoods Market
4) Crashing a cart into a customer’s car right in front of her snarky coworker Sammi
3) Trying to rock the “drowned rat” look after being caught in a snowstorm
2) Making zero progress with her crush, Tyson (see #3)
1) Being accused—along with her fellow teenage employees—of stealing upwards of $10,000
Chloe would rather be anywhere than locked in work jail (aka the break room) with five of her coworkers . . . even if one of them is Tyson. But if they can band together to clear their names, what looks like a total disaster might just make Chloe’s list of Top Ten Best Moments.”
Top Ten Clues You’re Clueless is a great read during winter and Christmas. It takes place during Christmas Eve at a grocery store called GoodFoods, and told in first person point of view by our main character, Chloe. If you enjoyed Liz Czukas’s other young adult contemporary novel, Ask Again Later, then you will definitely enjoy this one, if not, more. I really enjoyed reading this novel because we get to see Chloe and her coworkers’ experience working at the store. They encounter so many weird customers such as the coupon lady who literally tries to pay her groceries in coupons, and this customer who once paid $200+ in coins. It was just fun reading what they do during their job, and Czukas did a great job making the story so realistic. I felt like I was with Chloe and the other characters throughout the story.
I really liked all the characters because they were very funny and diverse. Chloe has freckles, is a red-head, diabetic, and often likes making lists. Her other coworker, Sammi, has a pixie cut and is a badass. She doesn’t care whether you’re her boss or not; she’ll do what she wants such as yelling back (to her boss which I thought was really funny), running around the grocery store, etc. Tyson is a black guy who is Chloe’s love interest. I love how he is such a sweetheart and very hardworking. He puts others first even if it means he will get in trouble. Zaina is a shy Lebanese girl who at first is really shy and quiet, but towards the middle of the story, she comes out of her shell. Micah is another coworker of Chloe who is homeschooled because every time his parents are finally going to enroll him in a school, he’s always a grade ahead since he is very intelligent. Gabe is this wealthy and athletic teenager who has his future already planned in Notre Dame, but wants to take a different path.
There is mystery and romance in this novel but it was okay. The mystery was a bit predictable and the romance isn’t fangirl worthy in my opinion. It was just there and I didn’t really care about it. Overall it is a great book to read right before Christmas. I definitely recommend it if you want a funny and light contemporary read with a bit of mystery.
