Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

August 30, 1999
When native New Yorker Mary Elizabeth Cep and her "astoundingly unimaginative" family move to New Jersey, Mary Elizabeth, who plans to be an actress some day, changes her name to Lola and zealously begins a campaign to enrich the "humdrum" lives of suburbanites. Unfortunately, Lola's new classmates are not quite ready to receive her guidance. They are too busy worshipping their reigning "drama queen," snooty Carla Santini, who is not about to share the spotlight on- or offstage with anyone, especially a loudmouthed city slicker named Lola. Thus begins the war between Carla and Lola to be No. 1. Carla is armed with sophistication, beauty, confidence and an entourage of admirers. Lola, on the other hand, has only a handful of weapons: an overactive imagination, the lead role in the school play and one loyal friend, Ella, "a free spirit waiting--no, begging--to be released." Energetic, almost breathless first-person narrative relates Lola's bitter defeats and hard-earned triumphs in her rise to stardom at school. Pitting a deliciously despicable villainess against an irresistible heroine glittering with wit and charm, Sheldon (The Boy of My Dreams) pulls off a hilarious comedy of errors. Ages 12-up.

October 1, 1999
Gr 6-10-An exuberant and hilarious celebration of the ups and downs of high school life. Teenaged Mary Elizabeth Cep has been misnamed; her mother calls her the "Drama Queen," but she's known for years that her true name is Lola. "Lola is romantic and mysterious. It's evocative and resonant. It's unusual-as I am." When Lola's divorced mother moves the family from New York City to suburban New Jersey, the teen promptly makes an enemy of Carla Santini, the undisputed head of both the popular "Born-to-Wins" and the smart "Born-to-Run-Everythings." However, Lola becomes friends with quiet Ella Gerard. When Lola beats out Carla for the coveted part of Eliza Doolittle in the school play, the adventure begins. From then on, the book is a nonstop one-upmanship contest between the two girls. Eventually the conflict involves Lola dragging Ella to New York for the last concert and farewell party of the pair's favorite rock group. The friends trek through some seedy neighborhoods while following a drunken rock star, and have a run-in with the police before they return feeling triumphant. Lola will rightfully take her place among the unforgettable and lively female characters of young adult novels. Like its heroine, the story is off-beat, outrageous, and utterly charming.-Jane Halsall, McHenry Public Library District, IL

Copyright 1999 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 1999
Gr. 6^-9. Mary Elizabeth Cep, or Lola to the others at her new high school, believes she has been relegated to a cultural wasteland after moving from her beloved New York City to Dellwood (Deadwood) High in New Jersey. However, only one of many in the city, she is a standout here, where she immediately recognizes a potential audience for her overwrought, dramatic stories embellished by loneliness and a desire to be accepted. She succeeds in at least being tolerated until she challenges Carla Santini, the ultimate BTW (Born-to-Win) and BTRE (Born-to-Run-Everything), for the lead in the school play. "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" is that rare gift: a truly funny YA book that is also exceedingly well written. In Lola, Sheldon has created a real teenager--warped judgment, mercurial moods, and all. The supporting cast of characters is equally strong. Ella, the good-girl foil for Lola, and the saccharine-coated, vicious Carla Santini, every teenager's worst nightmare, will be recognized by readers. Lola and Carla, and, yes, even Ella, give new meaning to "survival of the fittest." High school has always been this stressful, but rarely this hilarious. ((Reviewed November 1, 1999))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1999, American Library Association.)