Book Review- Keep Holding On

I finished reading Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti for an Around the World ARC Tour.

From Goodreads:

Between Noelle’s difficult home life and the bullying she endures at school, all she wants is to get out of her small town. Noelle would give anything to be with Julian Porter. But staying with her emotionally distant boyfriend is safer. When things heat up between Noelle and Julian, she has to decide whether she can be her true self with him.


So I have a feeling that my review is going to be an unpopular one, but oh well.
 
First off, let me say that this book dealt with a very important topic--bullying.  No child, teen, or adult should ever been bullied for any reason.  Adults have the responsibility to make sure that bullying doesn't happen.  That being said, teenagers need to speak out.  Adults don't alway know when bullying is happening and they need to be told so they can stop it.
 
That being said, I couldn't stand Noelle.  I felt that she was whiny and immature.  She whined that there was no food in the house, yet she spent the money that she earned working on an ice cream cone in the mall.  No, a teenager should never have to leave in situation where he/she is not properly fed or cared for.  And that part is horrible. And I get that she wanted to feel like a normal teen,  but for some reason that frivoulous scene just bugged me.  And then she complained because she was picked on for only having mayo and mustard on her sandwich because she was poor (again, that bullying should never have been allowed to happen) but then she says that she doesn't want to get a free lunch because she would get teased.  My train of thought is that if you're already being teased (horrible) for being poor, then at least get a meal out of it!  And Matt.  How could she not see that she was being used???  It was so obvious and she was so freaking naive to only be allowed to see him in private so they could make out.  Really?  Just stupid.
 
But thank god for Sherae and Julian.  Both such great teens.  They knew about how Noelle didn't come from money but still loved and cared about her anyways.  Which is the way it should be. 
 
I dunno.  I just didn't really like this book.  I've read other books about bullying where I felt the main character was stronger and there were qualities about her that made me like her.  And made me feel for her.   Noelle just didn't do it for me.
 
I gave this book a rating of 2.5/5.
 
Keep Holding On will be released on June 14, 2012.
 
 This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2012 Reading Challenge 150+: 14
2012 ARC Reading Challenge: 12
2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 12
Completely Contemp Challenge 2012: 2012-2
2012 Standalone Reading Challenge: 2

*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Around the World Tours.