Review: Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe by Shelley Coriell

Release Date: May 1, 2012
Publisher: Amulet Books
Rating: YA 13+
Genre: Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Music
Pages: 299

Big-hearted Chloe Camden is the queen of her universe until her best friend shreds her reputation and her school counselor axes her junior independent study project. Chloe is forced to take on a meaningful project in order to pass, and so she joins her school’s struggling radio station, where the other students don’t find her too queenly. Ostracized by her former BFs and struggling with her beloved Grams’s mental deterioration, lonely Chloe ends up hosting a call-in show that gets the station much-needed publicity and, in the end, trouble. She also befriends radio techie and loner Duncan Moore, a quiet soul with a romantic heart. On and off the air, Chloe faces her loneliness and helps others find the fun and joy in everyday life. Readers will fall in love with Chloe as she falls in love with the radio station and the misfits who call it home.

**A review copy was provided by the Publisher, Amulet Books (thank you!)**

"Sometimes change sneaks up on you, carried in on the breath of spring, sliding through the sun-soaked waves of summer, breezing along the whisper and crackle of fall. Other times change prefers a more direct route. It comes down fast and hard. Wham! Like a ginormous hammer."


Chloe Camden's purrrrfect (as her counselor would say it!) life, has taken a change... seemingly for the worse. Her two best friends have completely ostracized her, taking her place in the A-list with them; her Junior Independent Study Project has been rejected by the review board; and things at home between Grams and Mom have gone from bad to worse. 


But Chloe is determined not to let any of it get the best of her - not even when Brie (her EX- best friend, and the most popular girl in the grade) starts spreading nasty rumors about her... or when Grams floods the house... and ESPECIALLY NOT when her new puurrfectly kitty-like, green eyed Counselor suggests joining the school's set-up-for-failure Radio Station, KDRS 88.8 The Edge. Still, Chloe's always up for a challenge, and with super brooding, misunderstood, broad-shouldered, hunk of a guy Duncan Moore alongside her, she steps up to the plate... and tries to make this old, forgotten about Radio Station popular again, not only for her JISP (Junior Independent Study Project), but to show herself that she can do it.


This book was a light, refreshing read with a lovable, funny heroine. While I didn't fall madly in love with it, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The beginning was a little bit slow, and it took a while for it to pick up pace, but once it did, I was fully absorbed. I finished it in one sitting! Chloe was a really easy to fall in love with type of MC, and I'll admit, I fell for her, and her lovable, quirky, cast of misfits over at the Radio Station. Where at first they aren't too sure of Chloe and her 'skater girl' ways, it's not long before they are one hundred percent behind her.


Oh my gaaaaaaawwwd (as Jester Clem would say!), I loved Duncan Moore. He was hard-working, sweet, caring, and patient. AND he had broad shoulders!!! Hehe I kind of have a thing for broad shoulders if you haven't noticed already. When Chloe started noticing him, my heart dropped, because I was pretty sure that Chloe would just 'use' him, but she didn't!!! 

Chloe surprised me in a lot of ways, actually. At first I thought she was just the kind of girl who didn't really care about anyone else and was so self-absorbed in her own problems and life, but later on I started to notice that she started caring and noticing other people, and I think she really started to realize that she's not the only person with problems. Chloe, while she was definitely not perfect, was one of the most confident female characters that I've read about in a long time! She was strong, and completely believed in herself. It was a really nice, refreshing change!

Welcome Caller, This Is Chloe, is a moving, light read that tackles a whole range of problems, from family issues, and popularity, to alcoholism and drugs... all the while remaining a fairly easy and fluffy read. 


Are you feeling down in the dumps? Need a light read to cheer you up and make you laugh? If so, Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe, is the perfect book for you. 

4 Muffins - Simply Delectable!

If you like this, try: 

Between You and Me by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg

Belles by Jen Calonita