Limos, Lattes and My Life on the Fringe

April 15, 2011

This high-school drama with a strong evangelical subplot may appeal to Christian readers.

A brainy girl who's always on the outside of high-school society because of her "I'm-better-than-you" attitude finds a cause that puts her into conflict with the popular kids who rule the school. The wealthy "ruling class" rules the prom with their expensive and exclusive glamour, while the "K-Mart" kids feel frozen out. Tyler, an appealing and strong character and one of the school's few African-American students, sticks to her defiant streak when she's nominated for prom queen as a joke. Still, she realizes that she isn't the only student who feels left out of the prom and organizes a campaign to bring the prom to the whole school. However, when Patrick, the leader of the "ruling class" joins her cause, she's dismayed to find herself attracted to him. Meanwhile, she meets Valleri, a new student committed to Christianity. Tyler finds a strange book with paranormal powers that responds directly to her own thoughts as it explains Biblical stories of "Yeshua." The religious subplot appears to exist entirely to evangelize readers, but Rue works it into the book well enough that it doesn't interfere with the main plot until the story veers off into melodrama in the final 30 pages.

Overall, an interesting and entertaining-enough school story. (Christian fiction. 12 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 1, 2011

Gr 6-10-Tyler Bonning is surviving her high school years by doing her own thing and trying her best to not care what anyone else thinks. But once she's nominated for prom queen as a joke, courtesy of the rich popular kids known as the Ruling Class, she can't help but be hurt. She decides to run with it, creating a campaign with promises to make prom more affordable for all who attend. With help from super cute Patrick and strange but sweet Valleri, Tyler has an actual chance of not only getting a wallet-friendly prom, but also of opening up to those around her. It's all quite stressful, until she stumbles across a strange book that gives her a lot of good advice in a non-preachy way. Tyler is a far-from-perfect heroine who is almost off-puttingly fierce, making the glimpses of her soft side all the more sweet. However, the story's spiritual sections seem to be an afterthought. After Tyler realizes that the book she found on the bus writes itself in response to her private thoughts, she doesn't actually open it up much. On the other hand, the light sprinkling of spiritual elements broadens the audience to those who might not otherwise pick up "Christian Fiction." A pleasant, predictable read.-Emily Chornomaz, Camden County Library System, Camden, NJ

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2011
Grades 7-10 Prayer, prom, and Facebook drive the story in this fourth title in Rue's Real Life series. Tall, gawky, black, and intelligent, Tyler knows she will never be part of the Ruling Class in high school. But she is passionate about making the prom accessible to everyone, and she talks to God as well as to her sympathetic friends on the fringe about how to accomplish her goal, inspired by the love and sympathy Jesus had for the people who didn't fit. As action builds to a wild climax, what will hold teens is the universal drama of friendship and betrayal.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)