Piece of My Heart

August 5, 2013
Just about everything about Marisol Reyes's life changes when, at 17, she is discovered by a record producer and offered an audition with her favorite pop singer, Diego Salazar. All summer, Marisol has been hanging out in El Barrio in East Harlem with her Latina friends, who are all anxious to tackle their futures. Her best friend Vanessa will attend college, and her sister, Tati, works for a designer in SoHo, but with Marisol's four-octave range and creativity, she is throwing everything she has into her dream to be a singer. The many glamorous opportunities that accompany her big break are complicated by a fickle boyfriend, jealous friends, and dodgy musicians. Marisol's new life also allows her to see New York City in a new lightâparticularly its dramatic cultural and economic polarization. While relatively light and predictable, Menna's first novel is an optimistic story about preserving one's identity and morals amid the engulfing world of celebrity. Fashionistas and pop-culture junkies should enjoy the lavish descriptions of New York City's rich and famous. Ages 14âup.

April 15, 2013
Blessed with an impressive four-octave vocal range, 17-year-old Marisol Reyes is ready to make a name for herself in the glamorous and perilous world of the music industry. When a YouTube video of Marisol goes viral, she soon finds herself performing and partying with top stars, many of whom are drawn from current pop culture (Jay-Z and Beyonce make cameos, for instance). Her ambition leads to jealousy among her friends and tension in her on-again, off-again relationship with her high school boyfriend. As Marisol inches closer to realizing her dream, she discovers that the music business has its own rules. Despite tedious stretches of song lyrics, the plot in Menna's debut moves quickly, with short chapters full of frenemies, fashion, relationship status changes and sexual innuendo. Marisol flip-flops between independence and naivete as she navigates how much of herself she is willing to compromise in order to get ahead. Unfortunately, her self-centeredness makes it difficult to empathize with her struggle. She is scathingly judgmental of the people around her yet easily intimidated by those whom she perceives as powerful, especially men. With so many strong female protagonists in young-adult literature, one wonders if today's teen readers will be willing to endure Marisol's constant pouting. This attempt at a rags-to-riches tale of a wannabe pop superstar delivers more whining than wailing. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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