BABE IN TOYLAND

Author: Eugenie Seifer Olson ISBN: 0060570563 4/2004 CHICK LIT Publisher: Avon Trade

A game that's fun for all ages! Some assembly required. . . . . . Step One: Open Box Warning: Some Pieces May Have Sharp Edges Former art student Toby Morris is twenty-five, and she knows she's supposed to be out there . . . somewhere . . . building a career by day and filling up her nights with an endless parade of men. Instead, she's working at Toyland, designing instruction sheets for one of the biggest toy companies around . . . and if she never sees hot pink doll hair, cardboard game spinners, or glow-in-the-dark mini race cars again, it'll be too soon. Step Two: Insert Metal Tab (a) Into Plastic Base (b) Toby is bored . . . what she needs is some excitement, some change in the emotional weather. And she gets it the day she tunes into the weekend TV news and gets a good look at cute meteorologist J.P. Cody. Suddenly, the clouds break, and Toby decides to make J.P. her very own action figure. Only trouble is, J.P. has no idea who Toby is. At least, not yet . .

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Toby Morris works for a toy company. Most people would think this would be a fun job, a la BIG, but it’s rather dull and boring. Toby designs the instruction booklets that come with the toys. After watching the local news one weekend, she gets a crush on the weatherman, J.P. Cody. Deciding on a whim to write him a fan letter, she’s becomes even more enthralled when she starts receiving letters from him in return.

BABE IN TOYLAND starts off with lots of promise, but fizzles out towards the end. I really liked Toby and her friends, Kerrin, Jenna and Michael. They seem like typical twenty-somethings, working their first jobs out of college. I did find Toby’s crush on J.P. and the letters a bit silly after reading it over and over. I was ready for her to move on and find a real relationship. At times, I felt I was reading about a high school girl, rather than a young adult. I wanted her to grow up and get a life! A part of the story that I really enjoyed was when Toby volunteers her time with the children cancer patients. It showed her in a different light from what we saw day in and out – that she had some potential to maturity. I think I’d like Toby a bit more in about five years or so, when she grows up.

While not my favorite in the genre, BABE IN TOYLAND is tolerable to read. Olson does include some humorous moments in the story, but the childishness of the characters annoyed me too much to delight in it.

Kendra Patterson