Hot Dog Girl By Jennifer Dugan Book Review

“I shove myself inside the hot dog suit, wishing I could disappear inside it completely, wishing I could be anything, but me. I’ve always been loud when I should have been quiet, soft where I should be hard, frizzy instead of sleek, self-centered and selfish and self-absorbed . . .I zip up the bun and adjust the ketchup-bottle shoes. Maybe I’m a [poop] person, but at least I’m a good hot dog.”

(pg 261-262)

About

Author: Jennifer Dugan

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

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Synopsis

Elouise (Lou) Parker is determined to have the absolute best, most impossibly epic summer of her life. There are just a few things standing in her way:

* She’s landed a job at Magic Castle Playland . . . as a giant dancing hot dog.
* Her crush, the dreamy Diving Pirate Nick, already has a girlfriend, who is literally the Princess of the park. But Lou’s never liked anyone, guy or otherwise, this much before, and now she wants a chance at her own happily ever after.
* Her best friend, Seeley, the carousel operator, who’s always been up for anything, suddenly isn’t when it comes to Lou’s quest to set her up with the perfect girl or Lou’s scheme to get close to Nick.
* And it turns out that this will be their last summer at Magic Castle Playland–ever–unless she can find a way to stop it from closing.

Jennifer Dugan’s sparkling debut coming-of-age queer romance stars a princess, a pirate, a hot dog, and a carousel operator who find love–and themselves–in unexpected people and unforgettable places. 

Review

Spoilers Contained Below

To the Hot Dog Guys and Gals of the world,

Hot dog, Hot dog, hot diggity dog. If I’m being completely honest, the only reason I bought this book was because a) it had a beyond intriguing and comical title and b) the cover was cute. I mean Hot Dog Girl. How does that not sound interesting? It was interesting for sure.I also really liked the tag line and how it was like “Everyone falls for the princess. No one ever falls for the hot dog girl.” I guess this book was the exception, right? 😉

So who is the infamous hot dog girl?

Elouise, Lou, Elle, or Hot Dog Girl, if you will is a junior in high school who has worked at Magic Castle Amusement Park for two years now. She excepts this summer to be magical, wonderful, and adventurous as everyone makes summer out to be, especially seniors because it’s the last year before going off to college. When returning to work this year, Lou was hoping to get a better position, but it was like being Hot Dog Girl was her calling because that was what she was again. That’s gotta suck in some way to be the hot dog two years in a row. They could have at least made her something cuter? Like cotton candy or a popsicle? Darn. But I loved the whole comedic factor of her being a hot dog because she would have conversations with people and they wouldn’t take her seriously because she was a gigantic hot dog with buns. I wouldn’t take me seriously either.

If Lou that that was the bad news, she didn’t know what was coming next. Mr. P, who owned Magic Castle was closing it after this year with no explanation given. This doesn’t satisfy Lou because Magic Castle means a lot to her. It’s where she and her best friend, Seeley met and rode the horses on the carousel every time. It was also where her dad, mom, and her would go when they were still a family.

Here’s the thing about Lou: her mom walked out on her and the dad when she was little. Lou was playing in the living room and the mom came out with a bag and hugged her real tight before letting go. The mom left a note for the dad and never came back. Up and gone. She sent postcards every once and a while from all these exotic places she visited and there would be no return address. I felt like the postcards were a straight up jab to Lou. Why would you send a postcard of tropical places like you’re on some life long travel spree to your daughter whom you left? Like here let me show you all the places I can travel to now that I left you and your dad and by the way I love and miss you. If you missed her, you would have at least had the human decency to visit her and explain to her why you left in the first place. I understand why the mom would leave, because parents are people and sometimes they need to do things for themselves and to grow. So if that means leaving the family, then okay, but don’t leave the family unprecedented like that and without a full explanation or apology.

It kind of makes you understand Lou a lot better. Lou is afraid of people walking out of her life again or losing people like she lost her mom. Lou doesn’t talk about it much to anyone, but she’s hurt. She’s hurt that her mom would just leave like that because it kind of made her feel like was I not good enough or what did I do wrong? She was only a child and it wasn’t her fault at all that her mother left. So Lou’s also very lashy/angry I don’t know the word for it. But she takes out her anger from being left on her dad and I get it, but her dad truly didn’t deserve some of the rude and hurtful things she would say to him. The dad was left too you know, so she had to step back and realize that he was trying as hard as he could to make her happy and to make the situation better. He lost his wife and had to take care of her. She should be more appreciative and kind to him than angry because he didn’t chase after the mom to win her back.

Because she was walked out on, it made Lou a sentimental person who didn’t want to lose things as easily so that’s why it became this whole scheme of hers to save Magic Castle. She didn’t want to lose the one last connection or one last good thing of her childhood.

Another part of Lou’s personality that really just rubbed me the wrong way after so many pages was her self-deprecation. We’re all a bit self-deprecating where we tear ourselves down, but Lout takes it to another level. She constantly derates herself as less and it’s really sad because I know it’s just coming from a place of anger and hurt from being left. She would always say things about how she thought no one noticed her or liked her or how she was bigger than other girls. She would mention things like how imperfect she was compared to Jess and blah blah blah blah blah. And I was like please, Lou stop it, you’re beautiful and amazing in your own way. Seeley saw that in her too. She would talk her up and be like people do notice you and you are beautiful and good enough. And when Seeley would say those kind of things to Lou, I personally KNEW that she liked her. It was that obvious. If a person can see what you think of as flaws and see them as perfections, then they love you for who you are and that’s the type of love that you need in life. That’s the type of love Lou needed in life. But Lou was too hung up on Nick, the diving pirate.

I get why Lou would like Nick, though because I find myself guilty of the same thing sometimes. Lou liked Nick because she held him up on a pedestal and thought him to be this perfect, chiseled guy with a charming smile. She was biking home one day in the rain—-because of course—-and she happened to see Nick in the rain—–of course—–with his car broken down, so she goes over to fix it for him. And while in the rain, Lou gets these butterflies in her chest because here was a cute older guy and he was looking at her in the rain with a dashing smile. Lou has had crushes and this was just another one of them. And here’s where we relate. I think Lou and I often find ourselves mistaking being in love with loving someone for being kind to us. I know when I talk to a boy who lends me a pencil or helps me with a word problem or does some kind act, I instantly start to over think things and start to believe that he likes me or I like him, when really I liked his kindness and the way he respected me in that moment. Just because he did something nice for me, doesn’t mean likes me, he’s just not being a douche like some guys can be. So I think Lou felt the same thing here where Nick was kind to her and she mistook her feelings as liking him because of the rain and the way he smiled at her.

It’s funny though how far Lou takes it though. She wanted to sabotage and steal Jessa from Nick. *Face palm* You don’t steal another girl’s man, honey no matter how much you think they’re not good together. And she blamed Jessa for taking Nick from her when Jess literally fell into his lap. I mean, Lou you ran away from him and avoided him all the time in Junior year, so what’s he going to do, chase you down the hallway until he catches you? No!! He’s going to get the hint and move on. Sometimes girls and guys are the most confusing people in the world!

I found it funny when Lou was in her hot dog costume and then she was throwing up and Nick was there to hold her hair back and make sure she was alright. He always showed up at the most random and most inconvenient times. Sucks for her but a good story for us! Nick walked in on her talking to Seeley during that one night they were alll invited to swim at Magic Castle. He hears about much Seeley loves Lou and Lou loves Seeley and he mistook it has love love and not just friendship love because they’re both bi. And for some reason Lou got it in her head that she could make Nick jealous that she was in a relationship with Seeeley and that Nick would realize how much she liked Lou and break up with Jesse. I mean, how in the world do you come up with that?! I get the whole jealously aspect because it’s a typical plot to make someone jealous with another person, but making someone jealous with your best friend who’s actually in love with you, talk about STINGER!!!

You now what Seeley deserved a better friend because Lou did not get the hint that she liked her as more than friends. Seeley also went along with this whole ridiculous plan to make Nick jealous. She put her feelings aside for Lou and made sure she and Nick had quality time together on double dates with Nick and Jessa. When they went baking at Nick’s house I loved how into baking Nick was in using an original recipe that he found online and how he wore an apron and everything. Seeley and Lou got to his house expecting it to be just them there but Jessa popped in all suspicious because Lou was too close for comfort to Nick. Then Seeley gets Jessa and her to partner up to make one batch of cupcakes and Nick and Lou make the other. Jessa was not fooled for a second by Seeley and Lou dating each other. She new what they were trying to do because why wouldn’t she bake with her own boyfriend in that situation?

Lou’s intentions were always good, I just think she didn’t think things through completely.

Speaking of her good intentions, she wants to help Mr. P save Magic Castle. Lou’s dad was Mr. P’s accountant so Lou snooped through his files and saw that he had been withdrawing a lot of money and that there was an offer by a factory to take over that space. Lou then thinks that the whole reason that Mr. P was going to close Magic Castle was because he didnn’t have enough money so she comes up with this entire plan with everyone to try do something to help Mr. P out like how he has helped out everyone else. I actually really liked Mr. P because he sounds like such a good person. When when workers car broke down, he lent him his car. Or when Lou was angry that she didn’t get her cannoli in the beginning of the year, he went out of his way to buy her one. He was also very open to talking to Lou and getting her to understand why he was closing Magic Castle even though it was none of her business. The idea that Lou uses (because Nick came up with it, of course) to save Magic Castle was a bake sale. Because nothing says we can save a million dollar operation theme park with five dollar cupcakes and an unknown Go Fund Me. Again, intentions were good, execution bad.

Seeley’s breaking point of Lou’s plan was at the lake when they were swimming and Lou was drunk and kissed her. To Seeley that kiss felt real because she liked Lou that way, but for Lou it was just because she was intoxicated and Jessa ebbed them to kiss because if thtey were truly a couple, then they would do so. So Seeley was done with Lou and this whole charade of playing along with being her fake other half to impress another boy and I was like good for you!! Honestly, Seeley was such a good friend to Lou—–she would hype her up and help her out—–and all Lou would do in return was deprecate herself some more and not see how hurt Seeley was. Lou really couldn’t take her head out of her butt for five seconds to realize what was in front of her was someone she liked the whole time because of course she had to go realize that she loved Seeley all this time. But I guess you want what you can’t have, am I right?

Lou really is the master of schemes but bad executions. If you think she can’t mess up anymore, you’re absolutely wrong because for some gosh darn reason she felt like if she was the bad guy and was feeling all boo hoo about her life, she had to ruin other peoples life! That just really made me dislike her a lot when she blurted out to Nick all of a sudden that Jessa was cheating on him with Ari, the Prince to her Princess. She couldn’t have told Nick at a better time or in a more respectful manner? I thought that was pretty darn petty and rude and childish of her. If there really are words to describe Lou sometimes it was petulant child. I couldn’t stand her in that moment because doing that did not make her life any better, nor did it make Nick’s.

The only conversation I enjoyed from Nick and Lou was when he went to her house to still bake cupcakes for the bake sale the next day and he talked about how he gave up on Lou because she was always running away and avoiding him whenever he wanted to talk to her. He also opened up to her about how he was the ‘geeky’ person at his last school, lisp and all. His parents were worried he was going to get bullied so they transferred him to a new school and that’s where he was able to reinvent himself. And boy did he. Lou really put him on a pedestal of being this super cool jock dude who all the girls liked when really he was someone with a fairly hard past that he was trying to escape. It made her see Nick as human rather than some God. I also liked the conversation that she had with her dad about her being bisexual. The dad was so cool about it because all this time he kind of knew that his daughter was into both guys and girls, but he didn’t push her to tell him anything. But I liked how he was like “Are you ‘totally freaked out’ that I like women?” It kind of took my back to that Love, Simon trailer were people who were straight were coming out to their parents all dramatic like with “Oh, mom and dad, I’m . . . straight or I like boys or I like girls” as a girl or a boy and the parents would sob. It had that comical feel like if you’re bisexual or a woman or a man that liked the same gender that you have to come out to people when that’s not fair when straight people never have to do so. I just thought it was funny that the dad would ask that. Also sweet because they needed a good moment together after that big fight they had, which I still think that Lou should have apologized to her dad for.

Speaking of apologies, Lou tried to do everything she can to get Seeley back into her life, but Seeley was not budging. She wasn’t texting her back and she wasn’t talking to her at work. It really put Lou in a bad head space and made her feel lonely. Then came this big grand gesture where Lou climbed the tree to her window sill with her hurried apology love letter. The gesture was cute, but here I am thinking what are the odds that that letter doesn’t fly away in the wind? I mean she put a rock on top of the paper, but still sometimes that doesn’t work. I liked how they were able to make up though and work things out. Nick was very smug about his part in getting them back together because when he came over to her house the day of the bake sale, Seeley was in Lou’s driveway ready to go talk to her and so Nick texted her to go inside. I found it funny how when they were talking, Nick and the dad would peek through the curtains to hear them talk. Typical boy figures, always prying. I would too 😆

I also appreciated Mr. P’s conversation with Lou about how he was selling Magic Castle because his niece was ill and he wanted to be near her and pay for her treatments, which was a valid excuse. So the bake sale wasn’t about saving Magic Castle anymore, but about helping Mr.P and his niece out as much as they could because Mr/ P helped everyone else and they wanted to do the same for him. I truly loved that because life is about giving back to people who give so much to you. I also loved how the Go Fund Me took off when people started to share it around town. It goes to show you that kindness can go a long way and that no small act is truly small.

The ending ended on a sweet note for the most part. Nick might have not been dating Jessa, but that’s okay because I truly believe that Nick can find someone who’s his happily ever after. I like how Jessa and Ari were able to openly date now in public. I still found it kind of weird that Jessa couldn’t just break up with Nick in the first place and had to cheat on him with Ari. I get Ari was no literal rich prince and all, but still your parents shouldn’t tell you who you can and can’t date just because of their status in town. That’s not love, that’s use. I think there’s more to Jessa’s storyline and her family then this book explored, because duh, this book wasn’t about there, but if there was another book that explored Nick or Jessa, that would be fun because they’re both complex characters with different background. Jessa was totally sweet in the beginning that it made it kind of hard to dislike her as much as Lou because she was so nice, but then as Jessa became more skeptical of Lou and her motives, she seemed less sparkly and more mean girl, but that’s okay because she was protecting who she loved, but still, there’s something more to be said about her.

I also liked how the book in how Seeley and Lou were at the park where the carousel was going to go. Then they talking about where they were going to go from there. Seeley kind of killed the mood when she said how much Lou hurt her, but then again, Lou did and there’s not forgetting that. There’s only moving forward and forgiving and I hope that they can work towards that. They sound like they are because they have known each other for such a long time. I liked the last sentence of the book a lot because it paralleled nicely with how the book started in how Lou wanted this adventurous dream summer. Now here she was with a grand story for the books.

“Maybe the impossible summer isn’t so impossible after all.”

(pg 309)

If you read this book, what was your favorite or least favorite parts? Did you know Seeley liked Lou as more than a friend? Were there parts that angered you? If you worked at Magic Castle what role would you be? I think I would be manning a ride, but honestly I would love to dress up like a princess like Jessa. Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you 💕

And as always, with love,

Rating

4.56 Full Bloom Flowers

Characters: There were some points in the book I wasn’t a big fan of Lou because she came across too self-deprecating and too much in her head about things. I think that you can be down on yourself to an extent, but she just had so much low self-esteem and it hurt to read that because Lou sounds like an honest to gosh person who’s just been through a lot, but she didn’t need to be a petulant child to her dad or her best friend. I also liked the complexity or Nick and Jessa who have interesting pasts and families. Mr. P was also such a fun person to read about because he sounds like your good old neighborhood man that everyone loves and respects.

Plot: I loved the whole idea of the book with her being the hot dog girl, the most unlikely person that someone would fall in love with because of how ridiculous the situation was. I would have liked to see more fun moments at Magic Castle, but I loved everything for the most part.

Writing: Easy to get into and follow along

Romance: Falling in love with your best friend after asking her to be your fake girlfriend to make your crush jealous pretty much sums up the most complexity of what Lou went through, but it was a fun ride.